Chicago Lawyer Accused of Using Slurs to Refer to Competing Colleagues
A Chicago lawyer who practices in the county traffic court is facing an ethics complaint that contends he used slurs to refer to colleagues competing for clients. He made the comments, the complaint says, when he warned potential clients not to hire the lawyers.
Thomas Guadagno, 64, is accused of describing competing lawyers as “a Jew who only wants to take your money,” “homosexual,” “fag,” “faggot,” “a child molester” and “idiots and morons.” He is also accused of saying one lawyer shouldn’t be hired because he had a “sexual torture chamber in his basement.” The Chicago Tribune has the story.
The complaint says Guadagno used the slurs several times a week in traffic court over a period from 2003 to March 2010.
Guadagno had an earlier bout with justice based on similar allegations. According to the disciplinary complaint, Guadagno was convicted last year of disorderly conduct based on allegations he called a lawyer a “scumbag” and “homosexual” while in the courtroom. He was sentenced to court supervision and anger management, and is appealing the conviction.
Guadagno denies making the comments, the Tribune says. His lawyer, Thomas Brejcha, told the newspaper the allegations were made by competing lawyers and came after Guadagno accused one of them of improperly soliciting clients.
