On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) filed a two-count complaint against Attorney Salena Rachelle Young.
The case is entitled “In the Matter of Salena Rachellle Young,” with case no. 2024PR00037.
The charges cited Illinois Rules of Profesional Conduct 8.4(c) and 1.7(a)(2), which states:
Engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Representing a client when there is a significant risk that the representation of one or more clients will be materially limited by the lawyer’s responsibilities to another client, a former client, or a third person or by a personal interest of the lawyer.
The complaint alleges that while Young was employed as a full-time Assistant Attorney General beginning in November 2021, she improperly continued her private practice as a part-time Sangamon County Assistant Public Defender on Wednesdays and Thursdays. As stated in the Attorney General’s policy manual, employees are barred from any outside employment that could pose a conflict of interest. However, Young submitted time logs claiming to have worked full days for the Attorney General’s Office on the same days she was in court for her other role.
In the second count, the ARDC complaint says Young represented clients of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services through her work as an Assistant Attorney General, while she also handled juvenile abuse and neglect cases in Sangamon County where DCFS routinely acted as a witness. This created a conflict of interest, according to the complaint, which cited the Attorney General’s manual and Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct.
The complaint charges Young with dishonesty through knowing submission of false timesheets, and conflict of interest by simultaneously representing clients of two different organizations, in violation of ethics rules. It requests the matter be referred to a panel of the Hearing Board for a hearing to determine appropriate disciplinary action if the allegations are proven true.
According to avvo.com, Ms. Young is a family attorney in Springfield, Illinois. She acquired her law license in Illinois in 2003.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
