Lawyers cannot accept nude dances as payment

Lawyers may not allow clients to perform nude dances in their office as a way of reducing their legal bill, the Illinois attorney disciplinary commission has decided.

The commission suspended attorney Scott Erwin from practice for 15 months after he asked a professional exotic dancer to perform several private dances in his office and then issued her a credit of $534 toward her $7,000 fee.

The pair met in 2002 at a club called “Heartbreakers,” and while talking, realized they had been speaking on phone earlier about some pending legal matters.

Erwin is the former chair of a DeKalb County committee charged with finding ways to provide low-cost legal services to people who can’t afford them. The client has since given up exotic dancing and is working as a real estate agent.

Source: The Chicago Tribune.