Pro Boner Publico

Last year, Chicago attorney Steven Koukios was arrested.  As the Chicago Tribune puts it, he "was taken into custody after arriving at a Chicago apartment in April 2009 just moments after police had arrested Shannon Rosillo, 33, for soliciting an undercover police officer. Authorities charged Rosillo with prostitution and Koukios with visiting a 'house of ill fame.'"

As he sat in the back of the squad car with Ms. Rosillo, Koukios stepped up and attempted to make the best of a bad situation:  he offered to represent her free of charge.  And he kept his word.  He appeared in court on Rosillo's behalf, and negotiated a plea agreement for her.  There was just one problem:  he never discussed his potential conflict of interest in the case.  This got him in trouble when, later on the same day that he appeared on Rosillo's behalf he appeared--before the very same judge--on his own behalf to deal with the "house of ill fame" charge against him.

Koukios has agreed to censure from the attorney disciplinary board.  This is just another example how even the best of intentions can get you in trouble.  As Koukios's lawyer put it:

"His only motivation was to help this young lady who was distraught," Ex said. "He did it without charge to her — financial charge."

Hmm.  Was there a non-financial charge?

UPDATE:

I did a little digging, and discovered that this is not the first time Koukios has been censured by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.  He was also censured in 2007 for more mundane, but really more troubling, conduct:  he basically quit on a case.  Without his client's consent, he hired another attorney to work on the case and had that attorney settle that case without the client's consent.  The disciplinary board's decision is here.

Given this prior censure, I'm actually a little surprised that the Commission would agree to settle for just another censure in this case.  And, particularly given the publicity the case is generating--which clearly reflects poorly on the profession--I think the Supreme Court might impose a harsher punishment.

UPDATE 1/19/2011:

Koukios skates by with a censure.