Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility v. Edgar

2012 WI 19, 338 Wis. 2d 729
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 1, 2012
DocketNo. 1999AP62-D & 2002AP2962-D
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2012 WI 19 (Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility v. Edgar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility v. Edgar, 2012 WI 19, 338 Wis. 2d 729 (Wis. 2012).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

¶ 1. We review, pursuant to SCR 22.33(3),1 a report filed on July 15, 2011, by Referee Hannah C. Dugan, recommending denial of Attorney Jane A. Edgar's petition for reinstatement of her license to practice law in Wisconsin.2 We adopt the referee's findings of fact and conclusions of law and agree that [731]*731Attorney Edgar's license to practice law should not be reinstated at this time. We direct Attorney Edgar to pay the costs of the reinstatement proceeding, which totaled $7,597.25, as of August 3, 2011.

¶ 2. Attorney Edgar was admitted to practice law in 1985. She practiced in Milwaukee. She was suspended effective March 22, 1999, for two years for converting $11,000 that belonged to a client and an adverse party in a divorce action, for commingling her own funds and client funds in her law office business account, for making deposits into and disbursements from that account for personal expenses, and for having falsely certified that she had a trust account and that she maintained that trust account and bank records in compliance with the applicable rules governing the conduct of attorneys. In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Edgar, 230 Wis. 2d 205, 601 N.W.2d 284 (1999).

¶ 3. Subsequently, Attorney Edgar entered into a stipulation for an additional one-year suspension for other incidents of professional misconduct. In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Edgar, 2003 WI 49, 261 Wis. 2d 413, 661 N.W.2d 817. Attorney Edgar was ordered to pay restitution totaling $4,625 to four former clients, and the court adopted conditions applicable to Attorney Edgar's reinstatement as follows:

(1) that [Attorney] Edgar's reinstatement be contingent upon her demonstrating that she has her depression and any other emotional or psychological problems under control, by her submission to an independent medical examination (IME) by a health provider approved by the OLR, at her own expense;
[732]*732(2) that [Attorney] Edgar's licensure following reinstatement be conditioned on [Attorney] Edgar remaining in treatment as recommended by the IME and/or her therapist, monitored by the OLR via obtainment of quarterly reports for a period of two years following her reinstatement;
(3) that [Attorney] Edgar's practice of law be monitored by an attorney approved by the OLR for a period of two years following reinstatement, unless [Attorney] Edgar is either employed by a law firm or practicing with another attorney aware of her disciplinary and medical history.

Id., ¶ 12.

¶ 4. On September 21, 2010, Attorney Edgar filed a petition for reinstatement. The matter was assigned to Referee Hannah Dugan, who conducted an evidentiary hearing on May 23, 2011.

¶ 5. The standard to be met for reinstatement of a law license is set forth in SCR 22.31(1).3 In particular, the petitioning attorney must demonstrate by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence that he or she has [733]*733the moral character necessary to practice law in this state, that his or her resumption of the practice of law will not be detrimental to the administration of justice or subversive of the public interest, and that the attorney has complied with SCR 22.26 and the terms of the suspension. In addition, SCR 22.29(4) sets forth related requirements that a petition for reinstatement must show.4 All of these additional requirements are effectively incorporated into SCR 22.31(1).

[734]*734¶ 6. The referee found that Attorney Edgar's petition met some of the reinstatement criteria. She does desire the reinstatement of her law license. SCR 22.29(4)(a). She has not practiced law since the suspension of her license in 1999. SCR 22.29(4)(b). She provided the requisite information about her plans if she is reinstated, indicating that she would like to serve as a guardian ad litem in children's court and potentially in family court. SCR 22.29(4)(j). She has stated that she does not intend to return to private practice.

¶ 7. Attorney Edgar provided information about her activities during her suspension. Attorney Edgar cared for her disabled son, volunteered at several nonprofit organizations and at her son's school, held leadership positions within several non-profit organizations which included managing funds, and was elected to the West Allis School Board.

¶ 8. Attorney Edgar has also complied with continuing legal education requirements, SCR 22.29(4)(d), and has made restitution or settled all claims of the four clients who were injured or harmed by her misconduct and who were included in the 2003 stipulated suspension order. SCR 22.29(4m).

¶ 9. Ultimately, however, the referee found that Attorney Edgar had failed to meet several of the criteria for reinstatement. Many of the criteria are interrelated, as evidenced by the referee's comments. The referee expressed an overriding concern about the manner in which Attorney Edgar presented her reinstatement petition. According to the referee, Attorney Edgar did [735]*735not follow basic lawyering standards for presentation and refutation of documentation or witness procurement and preparation. More specifically, Attorney Edgar did not present witnesses or exhibits either to support her petition or to refute an adverse exhibit offered by the OLR. The referee expressed concern that Attorney Edgar twice incorrectly stated that the sole issue before the referee was whether she satisfied the supreme court's order with respect to having her mental health issues under control. The referee explained: "In her demeanor was both casualness about the reinstatement process and an unsubstantiated confidence in her readiness to resume practice."

¶ 10. Indeed, the referee found that Attorney Edgar's presentation and pro se advocacy at her evidentiary hearing suggests that she cannot at this time meet the standards of SCR 22.29(4)(g).

¶ 11. The referee also expressed concern about a pattern of incomplete disclosure. For example, Attorney Edgar had stated she was not party to any civil action, but it was determined that she had several civil judgments against her related to failure to pay office rent, failure to pay OLR costs, and several Wisconsin Department of Revenue tax warrants. Similarly, Attorney Edgar offered a written statement that "[s]ince my suspension, I have filed joint state and federal taxes with my husband each year in a timely fashion" but made no mention of the outstanding tax warrants and a current tax debt of about $27,000 to $29,000. She also stated that she did not have information about her finances from 1997-1999, but it was later revealed that a Wisconsin Department of Revenue warrant for unpaid taxes was filed with the Milwaukee County Circuit Court and, as the referee noted, some financial information could have been obtained from that case. The [736]*736referee noted Attorney Edgar failed "to understand that these unresolved civil lawsuits calls into question whether she, as a practitioner or as a lawyer susceptible to equivocation, can be safely recommended to the legal profession, the courts, and the public as a person fit to be consulted by others."

¶ 12.

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Related

Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility v. Edgar
2016 WI 60 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2016)
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2012 WI 19, 338 Wis. 2d 729, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-attorneys-professional-responsibility-v-edgar-wis-2012.