PrintA Schaumburg lawyer should be suspended for 90 days because he allowed a disbarred lawyer to work as his paralegal, a state panel has recommended. An Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission Hearing Board issued its report Tuesday relating to James G. Banks. "The evidence established that [Banks] knowingly hired a disbarred lawyer, Paul Glover, to act as his paralegal," the hearing panel said. "Although Glover did not maintain a presence in respondent's home office, he assisted respondent by reviewing client files, conducting legal research, preparing pleadings, communicating with clients and opposing counsel, and participating in discovery."
Banks, 42, became a Chicago police officer in 1990 and attended Chicago-Kent College of Law, graduating in 1999. He was admitted to the Illinois bar on May 4, 2000. Banks left the police department in 2001 and later started his own law firm, which focuses on personal-injury and some labor matters. In the fall of 2003, Banks hired Glover to work as his paralegal on an hourly basis. Glover told Banks that he was convicted in federal court for taking kickbacks, served prison time and was disbarred, according to Tuesday's report. In January 1996, the Illinois Supreme Court granted the voluntary disbarment request from Glover, the former general counsel of the Chicago Truck Drivers, Helpers and Warehouse Workers Union, who was convicted of taking more than $250,000 in kickbacks. M.R. 11854. In November 2005, a Department of Labor employee called Banks and questioned the lawyer about whether he believed he was violating any of the rules of professional conduct by allowing Glover to work for him. Banks then met with Chicago lawyer George B. Collins and within about two hours of that meeting ended his relationship with Glover, according to Collins. Banks paid Glover between $10,000 and $15,000 for his services as a paralegal, according to the hearing panel's decision. In 2007, the ARDC administrator's office filed a complaint against Banks accusing him of assisting Glover in the unauthorized practice of law, engaging in criminal conduct by offering a bribe to a witness and attempting to share legal fees with two former FBI agents, who are not lawyers. Following a contested union election, Banks represented the losers in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court here. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants, who won the union election, engaged in racketeering. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in February stating that during discovery, it became evident that many of the plaintiffs' allegations were "fanciful" and lacked a basis in fact. The 7th Circuit upheld a district judge's ruling imposing an $80,000 sanction against Banks. James D. Shales, John Pavlak and Tamara L. Smith v. General Chauffeurs, Sales Drivers and Helpers Local Union No. 330, et al., No. 07-3342. The allegations in the ARDC complaint stemmed from the Shales lawsuit. The parties in the ARDC case stipulated that if Glover were called to testify, he would invoke his rights under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer any questions about his work for Banks. The hearing panel noted that Glover acknowledged that a 1994 Illinois Supreme Court decision held that a disbarred or suspended lawyer should not act as a paralegal. In re Discipio, 163 Ill.2d 515, 645 N.E.2d 906. "Although we have found that respondent's employment of Glover constituted misconduct, we do not equate his failure to ascertain his duties and obligations with any intentional fraud or deceit on his part," the hearing panel said. The Hearing Board found that the administrator's office failed to prove allegations that Banks had offered a bribe to a witness and had attempted to share fees with non-lawyers. The administrator's office had sought a one-year suspension based on all of the alleged misconduct. Banks' lawyers suggested that a censure was appropriate. The 90-day suspension recommendation is within the range of other similar cases "and we believe it will serve to maintain the integrity of the legal profession and protect the public," the hearing panel said. In the matter of James G. Banks, No. 07 CH 78. Collins, a principal of Collins, Bargione & Vuckovich, called the hearing panel's report fair. ARDC Deputy Administrator James J. Grogan said Wednesday that the agency's administrator, Jerome Larkin, has not yet reviewed the Hearing Board's decision.
