No Relaxed Sanction

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has publicly reprimanded an attorney, rejecting both his attack on the findings below and the proposed sanction

Attorney Gonzalez acknowledges that aspects of the record reflect poorly on him, but he says that to the extent he is to be disciplined, the discipline should be on the basis of legally and factually correct determinations and should be proportional to the degree of misconduct actually proved. He says given his “otherwise untroubled history” the sanction “should be relaxed.” In his reply brief, Attorney Gonzalez suggests that a private reprimand would be an appropriate sanction.

Nope

With respect to the appropriate level of discipline, we also agree with the referee that a public reprimand is an appropriate sanction. Although Attorney Gonzalez has no disciplinary history, and even though the referee found that the OLR did not meet its burden of proof on all counts alleged in the complaint, the counts that were proven are serious enough to warrant public discipline. We find the misconduct at issue here somewhat analogous to the Public Reprimand of Sarah Clemment, No. 2011-6 (electronic copy available at https://compendium.wicourts.gov/app/raw/002365.html), in which an attorney was publicly reprimanded for giving a client an incorrect date for a removal hearing, making a misrepresentation in a motion to reopen an order denying an asylum petition and ordering the client’s deportation, failing to follow statutory requirements in pursuing an appeal, and lying to the client.

 (Mike Frisch)