Iowa Atty Disciplinary Commission recommends mere suspension for attorney who embezzled client funds

Incredible: Iowa Attorney Disciplinary Commission recommended mere 3 year suspension for Council bluffs attorney who was caught embezzling a client's $100,000 settlement fund, subject however to approval from the Iowa Supreme Court. WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER A Council Bluffs attorney could lose his law license for three years after admitting to taking nearly $100,000 from a client. The case goes back to 2000, when Michael Reilly represented a family whose 2-year-old son was attacked by a neighbor's rooster, according to a complaint filed with the Grievance Commission for the Iowa Supreme Court. The boy's family agreed to settle the case for $137,500, the complaint says. The money was deposited into a trust account for Reilly's firm, Reilly, Petersen, Hannan and Dreismeier. After Reilly's fees and other expenses were deducted, about $100,000 was left for the boy's family, the complaint says. Over two months, Reilly withdrew the balance of the money, the complaint says. He concealed the misappropriation by falsifying his firm's records. Reilly later tried to replace the money by writing bad checks, the complaint says. He eventually made restitution to his bank. Reilly admitted to the Grievance Commission that he took the money to pay gambling debts, according to an order filed last week by the commission. Given that Reilly had been a reputable and responsible lawyer up until he took the money and that the likelihood of him committing similar acts in the future is low, the commission recommended that his law license be suspended for three years. The Supreme Court probably will decide in about four or five months whether to uphold the recommendation, said Charles Harrington, ethics administrator for the court's board of professional ethics and conduct.