Suspended Lawyer Gets 90 Days for Accepting Client Retainers
A suburban Chicago lawyer was sentenced yesterday to a 90-day jail term for accepting client retainer fees at a time when his license to practice law was suspended.
Michael Marsh, 61, of Naperville, pleaded guilty to five counts of theft concerning retainers of $3,500 to $5,000 that he accepted from five clients in 2004, reports the Chicago Tribune. His license had already been suspended at that time because he had previously accepted legal fees for work that he didn’t perform, according to the prosecutor in the theft case.
Marsh also was ordered to reimburse the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission for $17,000 it paid to these five clients, the newspaper article states, and was sentenced to 24 months of probation following the jail term. Assistant State’s Attorney Helen Kapas says the same fund previously paid $61,000 to other former clients of Marsh.
Previously a divorce practitioner, Marsh now reportedly makes a living as a limousine driver.
