ARDC wants Record's report on Yates v. Hildebrand

An Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission attorney has asked The Record for its report on the case of criminal convict Wiley Yates vs. criminal defense attorney Thomas Hildebrand.

In a Sept. 28 hearing before Madison County Circuit Judge George Moran, Yates implied that Hildebrand represented him and another client with adverse interests.

The commission has disciplined Hildebrand, who was a Madison County associate judge from 1980 to 1985, twice for representing clients with adverse interests and for other misconduct.

In April, the commission recommended that the Illinois Supreme Court suspend him from the practice of law for a year.

Hildebrand appealed the recommendation. The commission has set oral arguments on his appeal Nov. 4.

In 2003, the Supreme Court suspended Hildebrand for 10 months, granting probation after four months if he met certain conditions.

In 2004, while on probation, Hildebrand allegedly represented criminal defendants Justin Counts and Anne McFarlane despite their conflicts of interest.

After a hearing, the attorney commission ruled that Hildebrand not only had a conflict of interest but also engaged in dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.

The commission found that, “Respondent’s testimony is not believable.”

The commission stated that the most serious aspect of his misconduct was his prior similar misconduct.

After Moran’s Sept. 28 hearing, the Record contacted the commission to see if Hildebrand’s discipline related to the Yates case. Staff attorney Peter Rotskoff confirmed that it did not.

Rotskoff said he needed to see the Record’s report on the hearing.