judge Joseph S. Bongiorno ignored the directive of the Illinois Supreme Court and allowed suspended attorney Michael E. Tabor to practice law before him.
On June 7, 2004, CLR issued a Press Release titled "Judge Assists Suspended Attorney in Unauthorized Practice of Law".
As it is the duty and responsibility of the Chief Judge to supervise each judge in his Circuit, CLR specifically mailed a copy of the Press Release on June 19, 2004 to Chief Judge Robert K. Kilander(CLR has proof of such mailing).
To our knowledge, Chief Judge Robert K. Kilander has not acted on the acts of unauthorized practice of law nor on judge Bongiorno's assistance in the unauthorized practice of law.
CLR suggests that since Chief Judge Robert K. Kilander has not taken any action to uphold the integrity of the court, he has assisted a suspended attorney in the unauthorized practice of law.
It is misconduct for a judge to assist a person who is not authorizd to practice law. It is misconduct for a judge not to report another attorney/judge who is engaged in alleged, suspected, or actual misconduct.
CLR suggests that judge Joseph S. Bongiorno has engaged in professional misconduct by allowing a suspended attorney to practice law in his court. It is also professional misconduct for chief judge Robert K. Kilander not to report judge Joseph S. Bongiorno for his professional misconduct.
A copy of the Press Release mailed to Chief Judge Robert
K. Kilander is posted on CLR's web-site and can be viewed by clicking
here.
email: clr@clr.org