An Angry Witness

An attorney with a record of prior discipline has been suspended for 60 days by the Wisconsin Supreme Court based on a former client’s complaint.

The complaint sought return of a $3,500 advance fee, which the attorney repaid promptly after the bar complaint was filed.

At the hearing on the charges

A hearing was held before the referee on May 11, 2021. Two witnesses testified at the hearing: Attorney Crandall and J.C. J.C. was an angry witness, refused Attorney Crandall’s request to refer to him as either Attorney Crandall or Mr. Crandall, claimed that after he terminated Attorney Crandall’s representation no other lawyer would touch his case because Attorney Crandall had tainted it, although he refused to disclose the names of attorneys that he had tried to retain. At the end of his testimony, J.C., said, “[y]ou’re a bad person, dude. You’re a bad, bad individual. . . . I don’t respect you. You screwed me over, . . . I’m telling you, you’re a bad person, and I hope you’re happy. . . . you’re a treat. You’re a real tool, dude.

Sanction

With respect to the appropriate sanction, upon careful consideration, we agree that a 60-day suspension of Attorney Crandall’s law license is appropriate. We reach this conclusion in spite of the fact that this is Attorney Crandall’s sixth disciplinary proceeding, and, as the referee pointed out, there does appear to be a common theme running through the proceedings, which is Attorney Crandall’s failure to perform the work for which he was hired.

 We note, however, that it has been ten years since Attorney Crandall’s last suspension, and the misconduct at issue in this case does not appear to rise to the level of the misconduct that gave rise to that five-month suspension.

(Mike Frisch)