Ottawa Lawyer Suspended For Questionable Conduct

An Ottawa attorney won’t practice law for at least six months.

The Illinois Supreme Court last week suspended the law license of Melvin Hoffman for violating professional rules of conduct.  A state judge originally put Hoffman’s license on suspension for a year starting last year but Hoffman appealed that ruling.

In the ruling, a judge said Hoffman has “serious anger issues” and his misconduct was serious.  He’s accused of calling a Cook County judge “a narcissistic, maniacal, mental case who shouldn’t be on a bench”.  In another incident, Hoffman allegedly compared a case he handled with the DCFS as “kangaroo court” and that the court hearing was “no more a fair hearing than they had in Russia when operating under the Soviet system”.  The final case of questionable conduct came where Hoffman allegedly called another lawyer unethical and said the lawyer “must be from a Jewish firm”.

Hoffman has practiced law since 1973.