The Illinois disciplinary authorities have filed charges against a prominent Chicago lawyer, who, while at his former firm, claimed reimbursement for $69,000 in fictitious taxi rides and thousands of dollars in personal entertainment expenses (h/t the Legal Profession Blog).
In response to an inquiry from Above the Law, his new firm released the following statement:
The firm was aware of this matter during the hiring process. After our own due diligence and a thorough review of the facts, the firm decided to give great weight to the total body of [the attorney's] work over his 25-plus years as a lawyer and to extend to him the opportunity to continue his career . . . [The attorney] is ... well-respected. . . has learned from his experience and taken all the necessary steps to move forward as a productive member of our team.
The allegations against the attorney have yet to be proven, and I certainly do not begrudge attorneys for seeking to learn from their mistakes and moving on from them. But I cannot help but wonder, if this were anyone but a partner with a presumably substantial book of business, would he be afforded the opportunity to work for another prestigious law firm in light of the seriousness of the allegations? Is BigLaw becoming like the world of professional sports, where, if an individual is sufficiently talented and has the potential to generate substantial revenue, someone somewhere will be willing to overlook even serious transgressions to give the individual another chance?
[For purposes of full disclosure, I formerly worked for one of the firms involved in this story but am not acquainted with the attorney in question and have no personal knowledge of any of the facts of his case.]