Judge Jason Cichowicz of South Bend, IN; ethical troll

The state of Indiana provided Jason A. Cichowicz with a law license in 2006 after he graduated from the University of Indiana School of Law.

The Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications has charged Jason with engaging in the following misconduct.

• Engaged in a conflict of interest by continuing to represent a wealthy client who made Jason the beneficiary of various trusts and bank accounts
• Jason’s misconduct stems from his relationship with Levering Russell Cartwright which occurred prior to his becoming a judge
• Cartwright’s parents set up two irrevocable trusts to provide an income for him that was called the C Foundation
• One trust was valued at more than $10 million, and the other was valued at more than $1 million
• The two trusts generated about $350,000 to $400,000 in income for Cartwright each year
• Additionally, Cartwright also created a trust with a value of more than $6 million, which was used to secure a loan of about $1.7 million
• Jason represented Cartwright in a divorce in 2013, when Cartwright was 73 years old and continued the representation involving litigation over a 2015 settlement agreement and other post-dissolution matters
• While Jason was still representing Cartwright, Cartwright gave him power of attorney with broad powers to transfer and exchange trust properties, made him the sole trustee of the C Foundation, made him the residual beneficiary and successor trustee of his revocable trust, and made him a joint owner of his personal checking account with rights of survivorship
• After becoming a judge, Jason abused his position as trustee to secure a line of credit to build a new courtroom
• Jason abused the C Foundation to pay for tile work to remodel break rooms that was performed by his father’s company and to buy three cars from his father’s company for the Court Appointed Special Advocates program
• Jason concealed the source of the funds by using lines of credit and depositing the money into a law firm trust account

All that remains now is to see what if any punishment is meted out to Jason by the cheerleaders for Judicial Misfits sitting on the Indiana Supreme Court.

As we speak (ca. March 2023), Jason continues to dispense his so-called idea of jurisprudence as a St. Joseph County Probate Judge in South Bend, Indiana.