On Monday, September 12, 2022, the Hearing Board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission ruled on charges for attorney discipline against Chicago attorney Tradd Ashton Fromme alleging misconduct. 

The case, titled In the Matter of Tradd Ashton Fromme, was brought by the Administrator of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Case #2021PR00072.

The charges cited rules of professional conduct 8.1(a) and 8.4(c) of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct.

The Administrator filed a two-count complaint against Respondent on August 30, 2021. Count I alleged that Respondent without authorization used his employer’s credit card, which resulted in fraudulently obtaining at least $136,745.79 from his employer, a dishonest, fraudulent, deceitful, and misrepresentation. Count II alleged that Respondent made misrepresentations to the Administrator upon its request for information about the amount of restitution he had paid toward the unauthorized charges. Both conduct were in violation of Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct Rules 8.1(a) and 8.4(c), respectively.

In his Answer, Respondent admitted most of the factual allegations and entered into Joint Stipulations of Fact with the Administrator. Respondent presented no evidence and no witnesses testified.

According to the filing:

“At his hearing, Respondent apologized to the legal profession, the ARDC, his former employer and coworkers, the American Express agent who investigated his unauthorized charges, and his family for his misconduct, for which he acknowledged he has no defense. He stated that they attempted to be cooperative and stipulate to facts in order to “mitigate the additional time that anybody should have to spend on this matter.”

The filing continues:

“He testified that he has had “the opportunity to address some pretty significant mental health issues that [he] was dealing with that took [him] down this road.” (Tr. 34). He explained that he has received intensive counseling to deal with his mental health issues, and to build the skills to deal with conflict-avoidance and other issues in the future. However, he acknowledged that “that does not in any way undo or excuse the actions that [he]took, and the behavior that [he]engaged in.” He stated that, because of his misconduct, he has gone through a divorce and lost his family.”

The filing additionally notes:

“He testified that he has had “the opportunity to address some pretty significant mental health issues that [he] was dealing with that took [him] down this road.” (Tr. 34). He explained that he has received intensive counseling to deal with his mental health issues, and to build the skills to deal with conflict-avoidance and other issues in the future. However, he acknowledged that “that does not in any way undo or excuse the actions that [he]took, and the behavior that [he]engaged in.” He stated that, because of his misconduct, he has gone through a divorce and lost his family.”

Respondent entered into a restitution payment plan with Intuit prior to the ARDC’s investigation into his conduct but had paid no restitution to American Express. Moreover, Respondent has no prior discipline.

The Administrator asked for disbarment or suspension for a lengthy period of time and until further order of Court. Respondent, on the other hand, acknowledged that precedent would support disbarment or a lengthy suspension, but asked for a long period of probation, with conditions including financial disclosures, confirmation that he is paying restitution, and a date certain for restitution to be completed

Accordingly, the Hearing Board, upon consideration of the nature of Respondent’s misconduct, and taking into account both the mitigating and aggravating factors of Respondent’s conduct, recommended that Respondent be suspended for three years and until further order of the Court.

The decretal portion of the Report and Recommendation of the Hearing Board reads:

“In conclusion, we recommend that Respondent be suspended for three years and until further order of the Court. We find this sanction to be commensurate with Respondent’s misconduct, consistent with discipline that has been imposed for comparable misconduct, and necessary to serve the goals of attorney discipline, act as a deterrent, and preserve the public’s trust in the legal profession.”

According to LinkedIn, Mr. Fromme attended the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, graduating in 2007. Fromme practices in Chicago, Illinois. He has been licensed in Illinois.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.