Chandler, In re

• Decision Date: 04 August 1994
• Docket Number: No. 76145,76145
• Citation: 204 Ill.Dec. 249,641 N.E.2d 473,161 Ill.2d 459
• Parties: , 204 Ill.Dec. 249 In re Michele CHANDLER, Attorney, Respondent.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 473

641 N.E.2d 473

161 Ill.2d 459, 204 Ill.Dec. 249

In re Michele CHANDLER, Attorney, Respondent.

No. 76145.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Aug. 4, 1994.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 3, 1994.

Robert J. Verrando, Chicago, for Administrator of Atty. Registration and Disciplinary Com'n.

Theresa M. Gronkiewicz, and George B. Collins, Collins and Bargione, Chicago, for respondent.

Justice MILLER delivered the opinion of the court:

The respondent, Michele Elaine Chandler, was admitted to the Illinois bar on April 26, 1988. On March 8, 1991, the Administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission filed a five-count complaint against respondent. Counts I through IV of the complaint charged respondent with falsifying information regarding her income, employment history, and social security number on a residential loan application, and with preparing and submitting false documents in connection with the loan application, in violation of Rule 1-102(a)(4) of the Illinois Code of Professional Responsibility (Code) (107 Ill.2d R. 1-102(a)(4)) and of Supreme Court Rule 771 (107 Ill.2d R. 771). Count V charged respondent with providing false information concerning her social security number and name at birth on her application for admission to the bar of this State, in violation of Rules 1-101 and 1-102(a)(4) of the Code (107 Ill.2d Rules 1-101, 1-102(a)(4)) and of Supreme Court Rule 771 (107 Ill.2d R. 771). Both the Hearing Board and the Review Board found that respondent had committed substantially all the misconduct alleged by the Administrator, and both boards recommended that respondent be suspended from the practice of law for a six-month period. The Administrator has filed exceptions with this court pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 753(e) (134 Ill.2d R. 753(e)), seeking imposition of a more severe sanction.

In her answer to the complaint, respondent admitted essentially all of the Administrator's allegations, and the facts in this case are not in dispute. The parties presented testimony and documentary exhibits before the Hearing Board on November 5, 1991. Respondent did not testify on that occasion, but a sworn statement she had previously made and her testimony before the Inquiry Board were both introduced into evidence at that time. In addition, the parties stipulated to certain other evidence.

The evidence in this case shows that in August 1987, respondent submitted a mortgage loan application to Mid-America Mortgage Company for the purchase of a house in Chicago. Respondent was seeking a loan of $84,550 and was prepared to make a down payment of $5,000. On the application, respondent stated that her gross monthly income was $4,000 and that she had been employed as an attorney by another lawyer, Nathaniel Howse, for more than five years. Sometime between August and October 1987, respondent prepared and submitted to Mid-America W-2 withholding statements and Federal and State income tax returns representing that she had earned $42,000 in 1985 and $46,000 in 1986 and that the source of her income for each year was her employment with Howse.

The employment history described by respondent on her loan application and the supporting documentation she submitted to the lender were false, however. Through a stipulation entered into by the parties, Howse explained that the W-2 withholding statements in question had not been prepared by his office and were not accurate. Howse stated that he did not employ respondent at all in 1985 and that he employed her for only a short time in 1986; Howse said that he paid respondent in cash, and he was unable to recall the amount of her compensation. Respondent, in her own testimony before the Inquiry Board, stated that she did some work for Howse from late in 1986 until October 1987, and that she earned about $1,000 for this work.

Respondent also submitted to Mid-America an employment verification form bearing the purported signature of Howse. The form stated that respondent was currently employed by Howse, that she earned $46,000 in 1986 from that employment, and that her base pay was $48,000 in 1987. By stipulation, Howse stated that the signature was not authentic and that the verification form did not reflect respondent's employment history. An application for commitment for title insurance submitted by respondent to Mid-America incorporated the same false information regarding respondent's employment and income.

Respondent's loan application also contained an incorrect social security number. Respondent attributed this discrepancy to a clerical error by the lender. Respondent used a different social security number on other documents she prepared in connection with the loan application.

Respondent's loan was subsequently approved, and she took possession of the property on October 28, 1987. On the same day, Mid-America discovered respondent's fraud. Soon after that, an officer of Mid-America told respondent of the lender's intention to exercise its option to declare the full amount of the loan immediately due and payable, though the lender was also willing to refinance the loan if respondent provided a larger down payment. When respondent was unable to tender a satisfactory sum, Mid-America instituted foreclosure proceedings. Judgment in the foreclosure action was entered against respondent on September 6, 1988. The record contains no evidence of the extent of the loss, if any, incurred by Mid-America as a consequence of respondent's actions.

The Administrator's complaint also charged respondent with making false statements on her bar application concerning her name at birth and her social security number. On the application, respondent stated that her name at birth was Michele Elaine Chandler. The name actually appearing on respondent's birth certificate, however, was Michele Elaine Dickerson. By stipulation, respondent explained that she had never used her father's name, Dickerson, and had instead used her mother's maiden name, Chandler, from the time of her birth.

Respondent also gave an incorrect social security number on her bar application. After inquiry by the Committee on Character and Fitness, she amended her application and provided a different number. Before the Inquiry Board, respondent explained that she had lost track of her original social security number sometime in the 1970s, had reapplied for the number, and had then been issued another number. Respondent used the latter number on the loan application and her original number on the bar application.

In mitigation, the respondent offered evidence of her disadvantaged background. Respondent was born in 1955 and grew up on the west side of Chicago. She had her first child when she was 14 years old. Respondent married in 1971, at the age of 15, and began working to support her family. She had a second child soon after that. Respondent and her husband were separated in 1974 and divorced in 1981. Respondent enrolled at the University of Illinois in Chicago in 1977 and received her bachelor's degree, with honors, in 1980.

Respondent then entered law school at New York University, and she was graduated in 1983. She received her license to practice law in New York the following year. Upon her graduation, respondent worked first as a law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and later as an attorney for a law firm in New York. She also did work for the National Council of Black Lawyers. There is some dispute in the record concerning the circumstances under which respondent left her employment with the appeals court. In answer to an inquiry by the Committee on Character and Fitness, a supervisor there stated that respondent was asked to resign; respondent maintained that she left the position voluntarily. ¹

Respondent returned to Chicago in 1986, and she passed the Illinois bar examination given in February 1987. Respondent initially worked as an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union; at the time of the hearing, she was employed as an assistant public defender in Cook County. Respondent was admitted to the Illinois bar in April 1988.

Before the Hearing Board, respondent presented favorable testimony from four character witnesses. Weyman Edwards, assistant dean of students at the University of Illinois in Chicago, stated that respondent tutored minority students while she was an undergraduate and that her academic integrity was beyond reproach. Edwards also testified that, prior to the hearing, he was not aware that respondent had submitted false tax documents in support of her mortgage application.

Respondent's uncle, Thomas Chandler, a tactical sergeant with the Chicago police department, also testified in respondent's behalf at the hearing. He stated that respondent has a good reputation for honesty and integrity, has been involved in community service, is a role model for members of her family and for persons in the community, and has expressed remorse for her misconduct.

Two judges of the circuit court of Cook County, Shelvin Singer and Preston Bowie, also testified in respondent's behalf at the hearing. Appearing pursuant to subpoenas issued by respondent, the witnesses stated that respondent, who had practiced in their courtrooms as an assistant public defender, was an able attorney and enjoyed a good reputation for honesty and integrity. Judge Singer described respondent as "the best all around public defender who has been in my courtroom." Prior to the hearing, neither witness was aware that respondent had submitted false tax documents to the mortgage lender.

As further evidence in mitigation, respondent introduced evaluation forms prepared by her supervisor in March and September 1991 concerning her work as an assistant public defender. The evaluations ranged from "Adequate" to "Very Good," and her ethics and integrity were rated as "Outstanding" on both forms.

The Hearing Board filed its report and recommendation on February...