Hearings set to begin Monday in four-year old ARDC complaint against Chicago lawyer

The Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) will hear arguments next week in the case against a Chicagoland lawyer accused of sexual harassment more than four years ago.

The ARDC scheduled five days of hearings in Paul M. Weiss’ disciplinary case, which will open Monday and come to a close Friday, said Jim Grogan, deputy administrator and chief counsel at the ARDC.

Grogan said the disciplinary hearings work “just like a civil case” with opening statements and preliminary motions set for Monday. The administrator, he said, will present its side first and then Weiss’ attorneys will argue his position followed by the introduction of evidence and witnesses.

Among other attorneys involved in the case, Grogan said Stephanie Stewart-Page serves as Weiss’ lead attorney and Wendy Muchman will argue the administrator’s case before the Hearing Board.

The ARDC in December 2008 lodged a complaint against Weiss, claiming his alleged actions toward four female employees, a neighbor and a woman on the street brought the legal profession into disrepute. The complaint has since been amended to include claims of at least one other woman.

The misconduct alleged in the complaint occurred between 2000 and 2010, during which time Weiss practiced law at the Chicago law firm of Freed & Weiss.

He now works at Complex Litigation Group in Highland Park, which is “comprised of the key members of the pioneering class action law firm Freed & Weiss,” according to its website.

Over the years, Weiss has worked on some class actions in Madison and St. Clair counties with the Lakin Law Firm, as well as St. Louis attorney Richard Burke, who opened his own office after being fired from Lakin, and Belleville attorney Kevin Hoerner.

In addition to disciplinary case, Weiss has also been dealing with ongoing litigation over fees and the dissolution of Freed & Weiss.

Grogan previously said the four year lapse between the filing of the complaint and the upcoming hearings in Weiss’ disciplinary case “is pretty extraordinary, in terms of timing."

He also noted that while five day hearings have occurred before, the typical length of proceedings before the ARDC hearing board span a day or two.