Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Another story on sanctions for conduct outside the practice of law: attorney disbarred for lying to get financial aid for daughter

Earlier today I posted a story to remind everyone of one of the first lessons I want my students to learn: that  disciplinary authorities can, and often do, discipline attorneys for conduct outside the practice of law.  Here is another one in which the lawyer gets the highest sanction.

This story is actually an update on a story I wrote about back in September of 2011.  Back then, an Illinois Hearing Board recommended disbarment for an attorney who lied to his daughter's school so that she could get financial aid for which she did not qualify. He submitted financial aid applications which included false representations and fraudulently altered documents for three separate academic years. Even though the conduct was not within the practice of law and even though the attorney had no record of prior discipline, the Board found the conduct was so dishonest that the attorney should be disbarred.  You can read that opinion here.

Now comes the update:   the Illinois Review Board has affirmed and agreed with the recommendation of disbarment.  The case is called In the Matter of Golden and the most recent opinion can be found  here.

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