On Thursday, September 21, 2023, the Supreme Court of Illinois suspended attorney Philip Eugene Prewitt for two years, effective October 12, 2023, following a disciplinary hearing. Prewitt, who was disciplined in the State of Missouri, was found to have engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation, in violation of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct.
The case is entitled “In the Matter of Philip Eugene Prewitt,” with case no. 031757.
The Missouri Supreme Court suspended Prewitt indefinitely after finding that he had engaged in misconduct during his 2018 campaign for retention as an associate circuit court judge in Macon County, Missouri. The Court found that Prewitt had threatened to file an ethics complaint against his potential challenger and to reveal details of the infidelity of his potential challenger’s husband in order to dissuade her from running against him. The Court also found that Prewitt had threatened to disclose a former client’s confidences relating to her affair with his challenger’s husband as a means of helping his campaign, which would have been to the disadvantage of his former client.
The Administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission has petitioned the Supreme Court of Illinois to impose reciprocal discipline upon Prewitt by entering an order suspending him from the practice of law in Illinois for two years and until he is reinstated to the practice of law in Missouri. The Administrator states that reciprocal discipline is appropriate because the misconduct established by the Missouri Supreme Court also violates the rules of professional conduct in Illinois.
In its October 2023 order, the Supreme Court of Illinois granted the petition and entered an order suspending Prewitt from the practice of law in Illinois for two years and until he is reinstated to the practice of law in Missouri.
The Dispositon states:
“Petition by the Administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission to impose reciprocal discipline pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 763. Allowed. Respondent Philip Eugene Prewitt, who has been disciplined in the State of Missouri, is suspended from the practice of law in the State of Illinois for two (2) years until he is reinstated to the practice of law in the State of Missouri.”
Philip Prewitt was an associate judge for the 41st Judicial Circuit in Macon County, Missouri. He was re-elected in 2014 for a term that expired on December 31, 2018. Mr. Prewitt acquired his law license in Illinois in 1995.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
