Progressivism In Wisconsin

With a tad of buyer’s remorse, the Wisconsin Supreme Court accepted a consented-to reprimand for the following misconduct

The complaint alleged and the parties stipulated that Attorney Dade did not communicate to J.Q. in writing the scope of his representation or the basis or rate of his fee or expenses for which J.Q. would be responsible. Attorney Dade did not communicate to J.Q. in writing the purpose and effect of the $3,000 advanced fee that J.Q. paid. During the course of his representation of J.Q., Attorney Dade made several disbursements from his trust account for the purpose of paying attorney fees he billed to J.Q., without first transmitting the requisite notice to J.Q. that he was going to do so.

The OLR alleged and the parties later stipulated that, by failing to communicate to J.Q. in writing the scope of his representation or the basis or rate of his fee or expenses for which J.Q. would be responsible; and by failing to communicate to J.Q. in writing the purpose and effect of the $3,000 advanced fee that J.Q. paid, Attorney Dade violated SCRs 20:1.5(b)(1) and (2).

The court

This is Attorney Dade’s seventh disciplinary proceeding. Given Attorney Dade’s lengthy disciplinary history we question whether yet another public reprimand is sufficient discipline for this latest incident of misconduct. Generally, discipline is progressive in nature. See, e.g., In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Nussberger, 2006 WI 111, 296 Wis. 2d 47, 719 N.W.2d 501. Unfortunately, the parties’ stipulation cites no case law in support of a public reprimand and does not explain why progressive discipline is not warranted here. Admittedly, there are times when progressive discipline is not appropriate given the nature of the subsequent violation or other extenuating circumstances…

On balance, we have decided to accept the parties’ stipulation and we impose the stipulated discipline, namely a public reprimand. We are persuaded that this is appropriate as the misconduct in this case does not appear to warrant license suspension. Because this matter was resolved without referee involvement, we do not impose costs upon Attorney Dade.4 It appears restitution is not sought; neither the complaint nor the stipulation addresses restitution. Accordingly, no restitution is ordered.

(Mike Frisch)