Illinois Supreme Court suspends Quincy attorney for one year

QUINCY — A Quincy attorney has been suspended for one year by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois.

A case summary on the ARDC website said that, during a dissolution of marriage case, Roni VanAusdall came to an agreement with opposing counsel concerning parenting time, prepared a proposed order memorializing the agreement and obtained opposing counsel’s permission to submit the order to the trial judge for entry. 

The summary said VanAusdall then created a second proposed order that included provisions that had not been agreed upon and falsely assured the trial judge that opposing counsel had agreed to the order she was presenting. She was the subject of a misdemeanor charge of attempted forgery. 

The suspension is effective on April 15, 2022.

VanAusdall also must reimburse the Client Protection Program Trust Fund for any client protection payments arising from her conduct before the termination of the period of suspension.

Adams County records show VanAusdall entered an Alford plea to the attempted forgery charge on Jan. 29, 2021, and was sentenced April 1, 2021, to 18 months supervision and 100 hours of community service. By entering the Alford plea, VanAusdall maintained her innocence but agreed the state had  enough evidence to prove her guilty.

VanAusdall was licensed to practice in 2003. She is listed as a managing partner attorney at Phoenix Legal Services, LLC, 814 S. 12th. Her bio on the Phoenix website says she has been in private practice since 2005, with the bulk of her cases being in criminal law, family and divorce law collection law, will and trusts and contracts.