Des Moines lawyer faces disbarment over theft

Sandra Suarez-Quilty

A Des Moines lawyer, lobbyist and former school board candidate who has acknowledged stealing money from clients and committing numerous other ethical violations should be barred from practicing law, the Grievance Commission of the Iowa Supreme Court says.

In responding to a complaint from the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board, the commission is recommending that the court revoke the law license of 44-year-old Sandra Suarez-Quilty.

According to the commission, Suarez-Quilty lied to a judge about her representation of a client; practiced law after her license was suspended in the wake of a second-offense conviction for drunken driving; used a client’s trust fund to pay for expenses unrelated to the client’s case; was arrested a fourth time for drunken driving while the charges tied to her third such arrest were still pending in the courts; and charged $5,000 to a client’s credit card for no legitimate reason.

The five-member commission noted that in Iowa, the conversion of client funds to one’s personal use is enough to support revocation of a law license, making it unnecessary for the panel to consider the other alleged ethical violations. Suarez-Quilty converted money from two of her clients to her own use, the commission stated.

“She admits to having committed theft,” the panel wrote in its recommendation. “The $5,000 charge on the credit card is very serious” and Suarez-Quilty ”admitted to having committed a felony with regard to those funds.”

Suarez-Quilty said this week that while she doesn't dispute the commission's findings, she is appealing the recommendation for a license revocation.

“There is no question that in the course of my disease of alcoholism I made bad decisions,” Suarez-Quilty said. “And I am desperately sorry for that. I am a sober woman today and living in recovery.”

Suarez-Quilty has practiced law in Iowa for 19 years and runs the Suarez Law Firm on Court Avenue in Des Moines, where she specializes in immigration cases and family law.

In 2012, she sought appointment to fill the term of a resigned Des Moines school board member, but was arrested a few days before the finalists for the position were chosen. According to police records, she came home intoxicated and fought with the man with whom she shared a residence at the time.
She allegedly punched him in the face, leaving his eye swollen shut. She was subsequently convicted of domestic-abuse assault causing bodily injury.

At various times, Suarez-Quilty worked as a staff attorney for Planned Parenthood and as a lobbyist for Orchard Place, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and the Iowa chapter of the American Cancer Society.

In 2010, she received a private admonition for an alleged assault on a state trooper after a drunken-driving arrest. In 2013, she was publicly reprimanded as a result of her domestic-abuse assault conviction, and in 2015 she was publicly reprimanded for a variety of ethical violations.

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Des Moines lawyer faces disbarment over theft

Kingston attorney disbarred for excessive court filings

Kingston attorney Joseph R. Reisinger has been disbarred for excessive court filings that “wasted the time and resources of the Luzerne County Court” and forced the court to “defend itself against baseless allegations of conspiracy,” according to a state Supreme Court ruling from Friday.

Reisinger, 72, failed to appear at an argument proceeding March 7 and must pay expenses incurred by the investigation and prosecution of the complaint against him. In Friday’s ruling, the state Supreme Court accepted recommendations made by the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Reisinger could not be reached for comment. A phone number listed for Reisinger was no longer active.

In 2011, Reisinger filed a lawsuit against Luzerne County Court Administrator Michael Shucosky and Judge Charles Brown with a pleading captioned, “Complaint for Permanent Injunction Because of Judicial Corruption.” At that time, Brown was assigned multiple actions that concerned Reisinger’s rental properties.

In 2012, Reisinger filed a lawsuit against Judge Michael T. Vough alleging judicial corruption. In 2013, he filed a lawsuit against Shucosky and Daniel Pillets, a law clerk to Judge Fred Pierantoni, and another suit against Judge Lesa S. Gelb.

Those cases were all dismissed, according to the Disciplinary Board.

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Kingston attorney disbarred for excessive court filings

Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Announces New Plan to Raise Awareness of Attorney Discipline

New Procedure Will Work to Ensure Public Knowledge of Misconduct

Harrisburg, Pa. – Demonstrating its commitment to safeguarding the public and the reputation of the legal profession, the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania announces an initiative to make it easier for the public to determine when an attorney has received public discipline. Effective immediately, the Board is issuing a news release to media outlets in communities where an attorney does business when the attorney is disbarred or suspended by order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Although the Board has a longstanding practice of posting these notices on its website for the public and notifying newspapers of appropriate disciplinary actions, the notices typically appear only in the legal notices section of classified advertising. This latest effort is designed to broaden the reach of the disciplinary notices to boost public awareness of the actions.

The Disciplinary Board was created by the Supreme Court in 1972 to consider and investigate the conduct of any attorney admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania. Funded by annual assessments paid by attorneys licensed to practice in the Commonwealth, it assists the Supreme Court in all matters involving attorney licensing and discipline throughout the Commonwealth.

“As members of the Disciplinary Board, our duty is to assist the Supreme Court in protecting the public, preserving the integrity of the legal profession and safeguarding the reputation of our courts and the legal system,” said R. Burke McLemore, Jr., Chair of the Disciplinary Board. “By raising awareness of attorney discipline, we highlight our commitment to achieving these goals by demonstrating to the public how the profession is policing itself.”

The decision to focus additional efforts on raising public awareness of such actions was partly prompted by events earlier this year when a Dauphin County lawyer failed to notify his clients that he was forced to surrender his law license. Some of his clients claimed significant financial loss.

To stay up to date on the latest notices, the public also is encouraged to visit the Board’s website at www.padisciplinaryboard.org. Designed for easy viewing, the website enables users to search recent actions on attorneys, including Supreme Court orders detailing the actions and reasons under the Look Up – Supreme Court Actions tab.

About the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of PA

The Disciplinary Board's goals are to protect the general public, maintain a high standard of integrity in the legal profession, and safeguard the reputation of the courts of Pennsylvania. The Disciplinary Board was created by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to review conduct and assure compliance by all attorneys to the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct. For more information about the Disciplinary Board, please visit www.padb.us.

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Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Announces New Plan to Raise Awareness of Attorney Discipline