A Rock Island attorney has had his license to practice law suspended by the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission (ARDC).
James H. Schultz, who was licensed in 1992, was suspended for three years and until further order of the Court. He was also ordered to pay $6,000 restitution to a client. The suspension was announced in the Attorney Regulation Case Summaries of the Supreme Court of Illinois for the September 2023 term.
The summary from the ARDC said Schultz engaged in a conflict of interest by drafting estate planning documents for an elderly woman, at the direction of the woman’s nephew. The documents benefitted the nephew. The release said he also collected an “unreasonable fee” of $6,000 from the woman.
A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension. It requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Schultz must wait three years before he can petition. Reinstatement is not automatic and may be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois after a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.
