Effingham Attorney Suspended for Three Years, Ordered to Pay Restitution to Victims

An Effingham attorney's license has been suspended and he's been ordered to pay restitution to those he defrauded.

John Longwell of Effingham will be unable to practice law for a period of three years, a decision handed down by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, an arm of the Illinois Supreme Court.

In their decision, the Commission's ruling states that Longwell "has engaged in misconduct and that the misconduct warrants an interruption of the lawyer's authority to practice law during the suspension period, which is a fixed period of time identified in the Supreme Court's order and until the lawyer has demonstrated rehabilitation, good character, and current knowledge of the law in a subsequent reinstatement case. The lawyer is not authorized to practice law during the period of the suspension."

The three year suspension was recommended in August after a four-count complaint was filed accusing Longwell of a "failure to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client", "failure to return an unearned fee" and "engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation", stemming from bankruptcy cases where Longwell collected fees but never filed or completed the case. Details from the Commission's complaint are available here.

Longwell has been ordered to pay restitution to four victims identified in the complaint.

This is the third time over the course of Longwell's legal career that his license has been suspended. He was previously suspended in 1993 and 2000 after the Commission found that he "engaged in misconduct".