The Illinois Supreme Court last week disbarred Evanston attorney and former 2nd Ward alderman Betty Burns Paden.

The court also ordered Paden to pay restitution to a former client, the estate of Frank Payton, Sr., for money the Review Board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission concluded she had improperly withheld in a real estate transaction.

The review board said Paden had misled Payton’s widow to believe she had negotiated the sale of a small apartment building at 1710 Darrow Ave. owned by the estate for $77,500 when the sale price actually was $245,000.

Paden, a 1955 graduate of Evanston Township High School, was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 1980.

Bill Smith is the editor and publisher of Evanston Now.

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