MOUNT MORRIS – A local attorney accused of sexual misconduct with client and a client’s wife will be unable to practice law for a year, starting April 6, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled.
The decision aligns with the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission’s Dec. 9 recommendation that Dennis Schumacher be suspended.
Three women testified at an IARDC hearing that Schumacher made inappropriate sexual comments and unwanted sexual advances in incidents dating back to 2003.
Schumacher denied the allegations, but did not appeal the commission’s recommendation.
Schumacher was Ogle County state’s attorney from 1980 to 1992, and ran unsuccessfully for judge in the 15th Judicial Circuit in 1992. He was censured by the commission in 1990 for not appointing a special prosecutor in a case where it found he had a conflict of interest.
He opened his private practice in Mount Morris after leaving public office.
He is the attorney for Sheri Thompson, an Amboy woman charged in Lee County with felony animal cruelty charges. It was not known Friday if other attorneys in his office will pick up her case.