Falsifying employment info on job application merits lawyer's suspension, ethics review board says
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A lawyer who lied about his job history and then persuaded his father to write a letter verifying employment should be suspended for 60 days, according to an ethics review board in Illinois.
The lawyer, Corey Michael Novick, falsely claimed he was counsel at a company called Codevco from “2003 to the present,” according to the March 19 report by the Review Board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. The job claim was made on an April 2003 employment application with the state of Illinois. The Legal Profession Blog has highlights.
Novick was hired as an attorney for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and was asked to verify employment. Novick then persuaded his father to write a false letter verifying employment that stated Novick earned $1,800 a week at Codevco. He repeated the false information when he sought reappointment after his four-year job ended.
Novick had submitted the job application after volunteering for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The false information came to light during an FBI investigation of hiring practices at the Department of Children and Family Services.
On appeal before the review board, Novick challenged evidence considered in aggravation, including a statement on his job application that he left his position at a law firm for “family reasons.” Novick admitted the real reason he left was because he was not meeting billing requirements, but said the misstatement was not part of the ethics case against him and should not have been considered.
The review board disagreed, saying a hearing board was entitled to consider evidence that is similar to the underlying charges.
Novick didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment in a voice mail message left by the ABA Journal.
Updated at 6:05 p.m. to change the headline.
