A Cause However Noble
The Wisconsin Supreme Court imposed a one-year suspension of an attorney admitted in 1975 for frivolous litigation connected to the foreclosure of her own property.
The allegations of misconduct in this case arise out of a foreclosure action in the Dane County circuit court against a residential property owned by Attorney Nora (the foreclosure action) and three subsequent civil actions filed by Attorney Nora against the circuit court judge and opposing counsel involved in the foreclosure action.
The court rejected claims of due process violations and bias of the referee.
Sanction
her misconduct in this case is aggravated by the fact that it was not an isolated occurrence, but rather was a pattern of multiple instances of misconduct that stretched over a substantial period of time. In addition, her misconduct was not based on her failure to do something, but on her affirmative and aggressive attempts to use the judicial system to obstruct the foreclosure of her property and to harass those she apparently deemed responsible for the loss of that property. She has offered no basis for this court to conclude that she recognizes her misconduct or that she would change her tactics in similar circumstances in the future. Accordingly, we conclude that the misconduct at issue here requires a more severe level of discipline than we imposed on Attorney Widule. We determine that a one-year suspension of Attorney Nora’s license to practice law in Wisconsin is necessary and appropriate under these circumstances.
Finally, it seems apparent that Attorney Nora believes that she must personally fight abuses or improprieties in the real estate lending industry. A lawyer’s fight for any cause, however noble one might think it to be, must be conducted within the ethical rules that govern the lawyer’s conduct. Attorney Nora must demonstrate that she understands this principle and can conform her conduct to the applicable ethical rules before she may return to the practice of law in this state.
She had been suspended for 30 days in 1993 as reciprocal discipline for a sanction imposed by the Minnesota Supreme Court. (Mike Frisch)