Disciplinary commission suspends Schaumburg lawyer

Schaumburg attorney Lino John Menconi has been suspended from practicing law after a hearing board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission found he forged signatures and kept money that should have gone to clients.

The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission in 2011 charged Menconi, 48, with misappropriating funds, taking settlement monies without authority and forgery, spokesman Jim Grogan said.

In September, a hearing board of the commission recommended Menconi be suspended for three years, finding he had engaged in most of the misconduct with which he was charged.

The board found Menconi dishonestly kept roughly $470,000 in settlement and annuity funds that should have gone to clients including his aunt and uncle, a man for whom he settled an employment discrimination case, and a woman for whom he settled a personal injury claim. It also found he misused his secretary’s notary seal and falsified signatures on at least two occasions.

Menconi, in his defense, admitted to most of the allegations but disputed the amounts of money the commission accused him of improperly keeping, according to a summary of the board’s findings.

While the hearing board recommended Menconi be suspended for three years, the commission is appealing and requesting the attorney be disbarred, Grogan said Friday. Oral arguments in the appeal are set to be heard in February.

Menconi’s suspension became official Nov. 12. The fact Menconi was accused in July in another complaint of improperly taking more than $180,000 from three other clients in the past three years was a contributing factor in the timing of his suspension, Grogan said.

Documents from the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission show Menconi has not submitted a response to the complaint filed in July. Menconi did not return a call to his law office seeking comment.