Education

Harvard-educated lawyer disbarred for lying on daughter’s financial aid application

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The Illinois Supreme Court has disbarred attorney Bruce Paul Golden for fraudulently misreporting his income on his child’s financial aid applications.

Golden’s scheme allowed him to collect $22,830 over a period of about four years while his daughter attended one of Chicago’s most elite private schools, reports Forest Leaves, a suburban Chicago newspaper.

The Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) found that Golden submitted falsified tax returns misrepresenting his adjusted gross income — by up to 90 percent — so that he his daughter could qualify for financial aid at Chicago’s Francis W. Parker School.

According to the ARDC, Golden’s fraud occurred between 1999 and 2003, which means that his daughter is now likely in her late twenties. It is unclear what took the ARDC so long to investigate the fraud and make a finding, or how the fraud was eventually discovered.

In its 30-page report, the ARDC said that Golden “refused to respond to ARDC requests for information about his actions,” reports Forest Leaves. Also, Golden’s “antagonistic, sometimes rude” behavior during the course of proceedings against him “understandably offended the majority” of the ARDC hearing panel.

The $22,830 Golden collected would be almost $28,000 in today’s dollars.

The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred Golden in a brief Nov. 19 order, the ABA Journal notes.

Golden graduated from Harvard Law School in 1969. He had worked at McDermott Will & Emery, a Chicago-based firm, for over 20 years as a securities lawyer before leaving in 1991 under circumstances that would ultimately give rise to a lawsuit.

According to the National Law Journal’s 2012 list of the largest law firms in the United States, McDermott Will & Emery currently ranks 23rd.

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Eric Owens