Court disbars five attorneys, suspends 13

The Illinois Supreme Court has disbarred five attorneys and suspended 13 lawyers in disciplinary orders issued this morning. It also disbarred one attorney on consent and censured two others.

Some of the suspensions are effective Dec. 8.

The attorneys who were disbarred include:

Lee S. Fainman of Evanston. He neglected five teacher clients which resulted in the dismissal of their federal lawsuit. The clients brought a legal malpractice suit. He has not paid any portion of the $560,612 judgment against him.

Fainman also neglected an unrelated client matter and failed to return unused funds advanced by that client and converted $4,000 in settlement funds. He also allegedly made misrepresentations to the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission to impede the disciplinary investigation.

The order requires Fainman to pay restitution of $5,750 to Dennis Boi as a condition of any reinstatement. M.R. 27573

Frank Edward Peters Jr. of Avon, Colo. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and other offenses in federal court in New York. Peters has been sentenced to a 60-month prison term, a three-year term of supervised release and was ordered to pay more than $11 million in restitution. M.R. 27617

David Joseph Simard of Henderson, Nev. He was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and grand theft in California Superior Court and sentenced to a five-year term of probation. M.R. 27653

Paul M. Weiss of Highland Park. He allegedly sexually harassed former female employees, was accused of exposing himself to a neighbor in his apartment building and received an order of court supervision in 2004 for exposing himself to a woman at a train station. M.R. 27547

Christopher C. Hedges of Merrillville, Ind., on consent. He pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted criminal sexual conduct in Michigan and was sentenced to a 30-day term of incarceration and a 24-month period of probation. M.R. 27584

The court suspended 13 lawyers, censured two lawyers and placed one person on permanent retired status. The following attorneys received suspensions:

Warren Ballentine III of Durham, N.C., on an interim basis and until further order of the court. M.R. 27590
Robert C. Beck of Wheaton on an interim basis and until further order of the court. M.R. 27646
John Dentamaro of Addison for six months and until further order of the court. M.R. 27585
Jason W. Feingold of Chesapeake, Va., for two years and until further order of the court with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a two-year period of conditional probation. M.R. 27602
John A. Franczyk of Glenview for one year and until further order of the court. M.R. 27604
Albert S. George Jr. of River Forest for one year and until further order of the court. M.R. 27658
Victor W. Groszko of Chicago for one year and until further order of the court with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a three- year period of conditional probation. M.R. 27695
Byron Lee Landau of Las Vegas, for three years and until further order of the court. M.R. 27635
Corey E. Meyer of Chicago for 18 months with all but the first five months stayed by a one-year period of conditional probation. M.R. 27586
Tim Osicka of Wausau, Wis., for 60 days and until he is reinstated in Wisconsin. He must reimburse the Client Protection Program Trust Fund before the suspension will be lifted. M.R. 27600
Linda Lee Spak of Chicago for one year. M.R. 27597
Russell J. Stewart of Park Ridge for six months. M.R. 27633
Allan Michael Strizic of Denver for 60 days. He must reimburse the Client Protection Program Trust Fund before the suspension will be lifted. M.R. 27599