I N RE BART E. BEALS
ATTORNEY NUMBER 6273501
Flossmoor, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032838, 2024PR00066
Mr. Beals, who was licensed in 2000, was suspended for 18 months and until further order of the Court. He engaged in conflicts of interest when he had sexual relations with a client’s spouse, and when he commenced sexual relationships with two clients after the attorney-client relationship had begun. In addition, he did not disclose to a criminal defense client that he had previously paid a witness against the client for nude photographs of the witness. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.
I N RE KENNETH JOHN CHESEBRO
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6301545
San Juan, Puerto Rico
File Information: M.R. 032763, 2024PR00054
Mr. Chesebro was licensed in New York in 2007 and in Illinois in 2010. In June 2025, the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, disbarred him after he pled guilty in Georgia to criminal conduct stemming from his attempts to subvert the results of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred Mr. Chesebro.
I N RE VISHAL KAMAL CHHABRIA
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6311031
Lake Forest, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032836, 2025PR00003
Mr. Chhabria, who was licensed in 2013, was suspended for three years, with the suspension stayed after two years by a one-year period of probation with conditions. His discipline arose out of his guilty plea in a New York federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. The suspension is effective on December 10, 2025.
I N RE MICHAEL JOSEPH DAVIS
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6197896
Edgewater, Colorado
File Information: M.R. 032762, 2025PR00039
Mr. Davis was licensed to practice law in Illinois in 1988 and in Colorado in 2012. In May 2025, Colorado disciplinary authorities suspended him for one year and one day, with three months to be served and the remainder stayed upon the successful completion of a two-year period of probation with conditions. He did not properly communicate with a client in civil litigation about his fees or the scope of his representation, neglected the client’s matter, and engaged in a conflict of interest and dishonest conduct while representing the client. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for one year and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed after three months by two years of probation, subject to the conditions imposed by the Supreme Court of Colorado. The suspension is effective on December 10, 2025.
I N RE JOHN FLYNN DECKERT
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6315300
Champaign, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032816, 2024PR00078
Mr. Deckert, who was licensed in 2014, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court and until he makes restitution of $25,000 to a former client. He neglected a client’s breach of contract matter over a two-year time span, made repeated false statements to the client, and did not return $25,000 in unearned fees. He also did not participate in the disciplinary process. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.
I N RE BRIAN MICHAEL GABOR
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6255962
Pontiac, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032839, 2025PR00018
Mr. Gabor, who was licensed in 1998, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court and until he satisfies a malpractice judgment previously entered against him. He failed to prosecute a client’s breach of contract claim, leading to the dismissal of the client’s cause of action and a $230,000 default judgment against the client on a counterclaim. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.
I N RE MATTHEW CHARLES HOLMER
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6303544
Davenport, Iowa
File Information: M.R. 032784, 2025PR00017
Mr. Holmer, who was licensed in 2010, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed after six months by a two-year period of probation with
conditions. He settled a personal injury case without authority and made several false statements regarding the status of the case to his client, his opposing counsel, his colleagues at his law firm, and the trial court. He also did not comply with trial court orders regarding enforcement of the settlement. The suspension is effective on December 10, 2025.
I N RE BRIAN DOOLEY KENT
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6287931
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
File Information: M.R. 032757, 2025PR00038
Mr. Kent was licensed in Illinois in 2006 and in Pennsylvania in 2004. In May 2025, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania suspended him for three years, with the suspension stayed after one year by a two-year period of probation with conditions. Mr. Kent engaged in a personal and sexual relationship with a client for whom he was investigating allegations that she had been abused by members of a religious organization. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for one year and until he is reinstated to the practice of law in Pennsylvania. The suspension is effective on December 10, 2025.
I N RE MICHAEL JOSEPH MADIGAN
A TTORNEY N UMBER 1727672
Chicago, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032785, 2025PR00044
Mr. Madigan, the former Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, was licensed in 1967. He was disbarred on consent following his conviction of the federal criminal offenses of conspiring with others to defraud the United States, using the mail or another facility in interstate commerce to carry out illegal activities, and conspiring with others to defraud the people of Illinois of their intangible right to his honest services through bribery and false and fraudulent pretenses.
I N RE JUSTIN LAMAR MASON
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6309625
St. Louis, Missouri
File Information: M.R. 032764, 2025PR00041
Mr. Mason was licensed in Illinois in 2012 and in Missouri in 2010. In March 2025, the Supreme Court of Missouri disbarred him for engaging in trust account mismanagement, including not reconciling his trust accounts, not disbursing payments to clients and third parties, and taking client funds for his own personal use. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred him.
I N RE ADRIAN MURATI
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6321187
Rockford, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032806, 2023PR00026
Mr. Murati, who was licensed in 2015, was disbarred. He abandoned his law practice, and, prior to or during that time period, he falsely led a client to believe that his unfiled workers’
compensation matter had been settled, falsely led another client to believe that he was negotiating a settlement agreement in the client’s matter, dishonestly misappropriated more than $12,000 in settlement proceeds owed to a litigation lender, and filed a false proof of service with a court.
I N RE BONEY M. PATEL
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6317625
Bartlett, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032808, 2024PR00046
Mr. Patel, who was licensed in 2014, was disbarred on consent. His discipline arose from his convictions for aggravated battery for grabbing the buttocks of a paramedic, and two counts of
attempted criminal sexual assault for pushing his way into a female neighbor’s apartment and forcing her onto a bed and following a female bar patron into a restroom stall and physically
attempting to keep her in the stall.
I N RE KATHERINE A. PATERNO
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6256503
Burr Ridge, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032820, 2024PR00010
Ms. Paterno, who was licensed in 1998, was censured. She notarized a deed containing the signature of her stepbrother and certified under penalty of perjury that her stepbrother had appeared before her to sign the deed. That certification was false, and Ms. Paterno knew it was false, because her stepbrother had died almost two years earlier.
I N RE ALVIN PHILLI PORTIS
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6294643
Belleville, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032810, 2023PR00063
Mr. Portis, who was licensed in 2007, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. He did not diligently represent Cook County in employee pension litigation while working as an Assistant State’s Attorney in that office’s Civil Actions Bureau, made misrepresentations to a judge before whom he was participating in a settlement conference, and made misrepresentations to opposing counsel and to his supervisors regarding the status of the settlement. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.
I N RE BARBARA ANN SUSMAN
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6186506
Chicago, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032783, 2024PR00059
Ms. Susman, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court and was required to make restitution of $4,000 to a former client as a condition of
reinstatement. She did not act with diligence or communicate with her clients in two immigration matters, did not return an unearned fee in one of those matters, and did not respond to the ARDC’s lawful demand for information during the investigation of her conduct. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.
I N RE SARAH BASHIR VIRANI
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6324798
Spring, Texas
File Information: M.R. 032823, 2024PR00082
Ms. Virani, who was licensed in 2016, was suspended for six months and until further order of the Court. While working for a law firm in Chicago, Ms. Virani took her coworker’s credit card
without authorization and made several attempts to purchase gift cards and other items. She then made false statements to her employer about her attempted use of the credit card. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.
I N RE AYODELE CARA JUANITA WHITE-CASPER
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6334308
Chicago, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032840, 2025PR00006
Ms. White-Casper, who was licensed in 2020, was suspended from the practice of law for 30 days and required to complete the ARDC Professionalism Seminar within one year of the Court’s order of discipline. She prepared estate planning documents for a client’s stepfather, without ever consulting him, which documents benefited the client at the expense of the client’s sister. One of the documents, a quitclaim deed, purported to convey the stepfather’s house to the client for no consideration. Ms. White-Casper then caused the quitclaim deed to be notarized, even though the stepfather never appeared before the notary public, and filed the falsely notarized deed with the Cook County Clerk. The suspension is effective on December 10, 2025.
I N RE JOSHUA STUART WHITT
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6280038
Aurora, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032822, 2024PR00073
Mr. Whitt, who was licensed in 2003, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. His discipline arose from his convictions for violating an order of protection by sending text messages to a neighbor, electronic harassment for sending threatening texts and emails to another individual, and attempted disorderly conduct for sending threatening emails to a school administrator. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.
I N RE MARCEL ELIA YONAN
A TTORNEY N UMBER 6206071
Chicago, Illinois
File Information: M.R. 032818, 2024PR00081
Mr. Yonan, who was licensed in 1991, was censured. His discipline arose from his conviction on a misdemeanor count of domestic battery against his spouse.
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