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A serious topic for these hard times.  The only rule governing a lawyer’s nonpayment of debt is 8.4(a)(8), “avoid in bad faith the repayment of an education loan guaranteed by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission or other governmental entity. The lawful discharge of an education loan in a bankruptcy proceeding shall not constitute bad faith under this rule, but the discharge shall not preclude a review of the attorney’s conduct to determine if it constitutes bad faith.”

Chicago Lawyer’s monthly ethics page recently covered Failure to keep financial commitments. CL tends to be a little fluffy and too big firm focused for a solo in Chicago but their writing on professional ethics is the best around in my opinion.  Here were some excerpts that opened my eyes:

Notwithstanding the absence of a rule specifically making the nonpayment of financial obligations professional misconduct, the Supreme Court disciplined an attorney in In re Stone, 108 Ill.2d 253, 486 N.E.2d 915, 93 Ill.Dec. 382 (1985), for misconduct based in part on the attorney’s payment to a secretary with checks he knew would be dishonored….

A different result occurred in In re Glasson, 00 SH 20, M.R. 17584 (Sept. 20, 2001), in which a lawyer was disciplined, in part, for issuing 29 checks on his personal bank account to local stores, restaurants, and others, that were not honored due to insufficient funds, where he knew or should have known that the checks would not be honored….

Recently, a panel of the Hearing Board found that an attorney engaged in misconduct by failing to comply with court orders to pay child support for about 11 weeks, failing to contribute to day care and medical insurance, and dissipating marital assets by transferring funds to a bank account held in his name in Costa Rica. In re Kline, 07 CH 44, M.R. 22388 (Sept. 16, 2008)….another sword for you family lawyers if the opposing party is a lawyer.

Just a funny nugget from Chicago Lawyer’s monthly Q&A column with appellate lawyer Karen Kies DeGrand:

What is the strangest thing that ever happened to you as a lawyer?

This happened probably about 10 years ago. I was in Springfield for a case that was being argued in the Illinois Supreme Court and our opponent showed up apparently drunk. You almost couldn’t believe your eyes. When you go to the supreme court for an argument the personnel at the court know everybody who’s in the building; they are keeping a very close eye on everything, even pre-9/11. They were cognizant of what shape this guy was in, but ultimately he got up there and he was relatively inappropriate. My thought, at the time, was we better win. But we did, but obviously it was one of those things where I don’t think I will ever see that again.