Josh Bradley, left, and his brother, state rep John E. Bradley, both of them attorneys, have had a rough past year or so...all of it their own doing.
WILLIAMSON CO.—The brother of a local state representative might be losing his law license very soon.
Marion attorney Josh Bradley, brother of State Rep. John. E. Bradley (D-117th), also of Marion and also an attorney, is facing numerous Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) complaints from former clients who say that, among other issues, he took their money and lied to them about how their cases were progressing…and in the end, many of them lost not only their cases and money, but substantial sums in property and personal injury, as well.
According to the ARDC, Josh Bradley had been set for a June 19 hearing in Springfield on the matters of the complaints, which involve eleven counts as filed by Nancy and Vishant Desai, Peter Homoya, Janice Travelstead, Frances “Frankie” Miller, Kathy Wheaton, Ermal Basham, Michael Hosick, and Shannon Morris.
The counts include Misrepresentation, False Statements, Lack of Diligence, Dishonesty, Dishonest Conduct, Advancing Financial Assistance to a Client, Neglect and Failure to Inform Client of the Dismissal of an Appeal, Failure to Advise of Settlement Offer and Misrepresentation Regarding a Family Law Matter. Many are duplicated within each victim’s case.
‘Trust’…or lack thereof
In said complaints, the victims can make a case as far back as 2007, since paying an attorney a retainer is considered a “trust fund”-type of agreement, and in the state of Illinois, “trust”-related issues (such as violations of a trust relationship within insurance, banking, etc.) can date back seven years upon the year of discovery and/or filing. In this case, most of these were filed in 2014. A year ago this month (June), Disclosure outlined the complaints against Bradley in great detail, something no other media outlet opted to do at the time, due to the great influence the Bradleys hold over Williamson and surrounding counties.
The revelation of the multiple counts against Bradley was so astonishing that people began coming forward about John Bradley and his questionable behavior over his ex-wife and their children. That lead to subsequent articles showing the truth of that particular Bradley who, while he continued to put himself forward as doing no wrong, was proven to have been doing very wrong, and for a lengthy period of time.
The subsequent articles caused a lot of heat to be put on Disclosure’s Williamson County vendors, and the paper was pulled from several south county locations, since the facts of Bradley’s divorce in Union County was causing his campaign and office to have a black eye, and the movers and shakers that supported him exerted undue control over a particular vendor, ultimately causing that vendor to fold.
They ain’t so bayud!!
As is usually the case, there was the obligatory shrieking that things weren’t as bad as they seemed with either Bradley, and that since they were such good guys, they would emerge smelling like the roses the movers and shakers believed (and wanted the public to believe) they were.
However, the intensified scrutiny (which didn’t end just because certain vendors were too scared to stand up to empty threats) didn’t stop the coverage, and John Bradley ultimately relented in his divorce case without any further facts coming out, this last fall right before his (uncontested) re-election. Sadly, however, he lost the coffee shop he and his latest wife, Michelle, purchased in Marion (Latta Java, a popular destination for many, all of whom were distressed when the place shut down), and now, reports out of Bradley-land have it that he and the new missus are less-than-happy…a situation that was predicted even before the two made it official.
What it cost Josh…and others
And the scrutiny on Josh Bradley lead to even MORE complaints, which were added to the original ones in amended complaints, the second one of which came about in early February of this year.
Bradley had filed an answer to all the complaints, this on April 8, 2015. Naturally, he denied any wrongdoing.
However, that all may change on June 19 in Springfield.
There, Bradley appears before the Hearing Board to explain how he’s answering to the complaints, which are very serious.
This type of thing has happened to other attorneys in the area, namely George Woodcock in Mt. Carmel and former Wayne County state’s attorney Kevin Kakac.
In both cases, the attorneys had to have their law license suspended for a certain period of time.
Often, this suspension has come about as the result of an agreement among the Hearing Board, the attorney in question, and the victims. Sometimes, full restitution is ordered to the victims.
But the main thing is that the attorney is generally forced to give up his license for a certain period of time before reinstatement can even be considered.
Whether this will happen on June 19 with Josh Bradley remains to be seen.
Regardless, the emotional and financial toll this has taken on the complainants cannot be measured, in particular to the elderly octogenarian, Mrs. Basham, who lost everything she owned to an unscrupulous ex-husband with assistance from other public officials in Williamson County, and has never been able to recover any of it…then was re-victimized by Bradley in her attempts at that recovery.
Disclosure outlined the Basham story in a print article in late 2012, which is available on the e-Edition at the website.
Please check the website for the latest on the Bradley outcome following the June 19 ARDC hearing.