Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility v. Woodard

2012 WI 41, 340 Wis. 2d 248
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedApril 21, 2012
DocketNo. 1993AP1135-D, 1994AP1838-D & 1996AP884-D
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2012 WI 41 (Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility v. Woodard) 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. Woodard, 2012 WI 41, 340 Wis. 2d 248 (Wis. 2012).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

¶ 1. We review the report and recommendation of the referee, Lisa C. Goldman, that the license of Attorney Stanley V. Woodard to practice law in Wisconsin should be reinstated with certain specified conditions.1 After fully reviewing this matter, we agree with the referee that Attorney Woodard's license should be reinstated and that conditions should be placed upon his practice of law in this state. We conclude, however, that the referee's suggested conditions on Attorney Woodard's return to the practice of law must be strengthened and clarified. We also determine that Attorney Woodard should be required to pay the costs of this reinstatement proceeding, which were $5,263.16 as of October 17, 2011.

[251]*251¶ 2. The standards that apply to all petitions seeking reinstatement after a disciplinary suspension or revocation are set forth in SCR 22.31(1).2 In particular, the petitioning attorney must demonstrate by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence that he or she has the 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 fully with the terms of the suspension or revocation order and the requirements of SCR 22.26. In addition, SCR 22.31(l)(c) incorporates the statements that a petition for reinstatement must contain pursuant to SCR 22.29(4)(a)-[(4m)].3 Thus, the petitioning attorney must demonstrate that the re[252]*252quired representations in the reinstatement petition are substantiated.

¶ 3. The following facts are taken from the referee's report. No party has alleged that any of these factual findings are erroneous.

¶ 4. Attorney Woodard was admitted to the practice of law in Wisconsin in 1977. He held a number of different positions during the time that he possessed an active license to practice law. He was a staff attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin, a staff attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and an assistant [253]*253district attorney in Milwaukee County. After a two-year stint in private practice, Attorney Woodard spent eight years in the Madison office of the State Public Defender. He then worked in his own firm for approximately three years.

¶ 5. Attorney Woodard has an extensive disciplinary history that includes six separate impositions of public discipline over an 11-year period.

¶ 6. Attorney Woodard's first disciplinary matters resulted in public reprimands in 1985 and 1986 for neglecting client matters, failing to respond promptly to requests for information from the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility (BAPR), the predecessor to the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR); failing to deposit client funds in a trust account; and misrepresenting the location of those client funds.

¶ 7. In 1989 Attorney Woodard's license was suspended for a period of 60 days due to his failure to file income tax returns and his failure to respond to inquiries from BAPR and the Department of Revenue. In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Woodard, 150 Wis. 2d 594, 441 N.W.2d 750 (1989).

¶ 8. In 1994 this court suspended Attorney Woodard's license for three years. His misconduct in that case involved five separate clients and stemmed from (1) assisting the girlfriend of a client to violate the terms of the girlfriend's probation by delivering two packages from the girlfriend to the client in jail, one of which contained dangerous, banned material; (2) failing to attend to client matters; (3) failing to prepare for trial; (4) failing to act with diligence; (5) failing to keep a client properly informed; (6) failing to return a client's file upon request; (7) failing to refund unearned fees; (8) failing to appear at scheduled court hearings in three criminal matters; and (9) failing to cooperate with [254]*254BAPR's investigations. In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Woodard, 183 Wis. 2d 575, 515 N.W.2d 700 (1994). In this 1994 proceeding, Attorney Woodard submitted a psychiatrist's report that stated that Attorney Woodard suffered from major depression and dysthymia.4 The referee found that Attorney Woodard did suffer from those conditions, but concluded that they did not cause his misconduct and rejected Attorney Woodard's request that the disciplinary proceeding be converted to a medical incapacity proceeding. The court adopted the referee's recommendation that the reinstatement of Attorney Woodard's license should be conditioned on Attorney Woodard establishing that he no longer suffers from the medical incapacity that he had asserted in the proceeding. Id., 183 Wis. 2d at 585-86. Attorney Woodard's license has not been reinstated since the time of this order.

¶ 9. This court imposed another one-year suspension in 1995 for Attorney Woodard's misconduct in two more representations. His misconduct in those matters included failing to return a client's file, failing to refund unearned fees, failing to communicate with a client about not pursuing a criminal sentencing matter and not refunding a portion of the fees, and failing to communicate with BAPR in response to its investigations. In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Woodard, 190 Wis. 2d 487, 526 N.W.2d 510 (1995).

¶ 10. After Attorney Woodard stated that he could not successfully defend against BAPR's allegations of additional misconduct, this court granted Attorney Woodard's petition for the consensual revocation of his [255]*255license to practice law in Wisconsin in 1996. In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Woodard, 200 Wis. 2d 66, 546 N.W.2d 162 (1996). His admitted misconduct in that proceeding included using client trust account funds to pay for personal expenses, failing to maintain required trust account records, failing to document the purpose of trust account checks made payable to himself, and failing to account to a client for funds that Attorney Woodard had received and disbursed on the client's behalf.

¶ 11. Since the revocation of his law license, Attorney Woodard has worked in a number of jobs. He has taught at a local college, worked for the Boys and Girls Club, and worked for the University of Wisconsin. His second most-recent position was with the University of Wisconsin Family Voices program, where he worked for three years. His current position is the program director for the Lussier Community Education Center in Madison. He has also volunteered with a number of community organizations.

¶ 12. The referee's report discussed a number of issues and concerns regarding Attorney Woodard's reinstatement to the practice of law in this state. She noted that having a license to practice law is a privilege that demands behavior above reproach so that an attorney can be trusted and respected by members of the community.

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2012 WI 41, 340 Wis. 2d 248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-attorneys-professional-responsibility-v-woodard-wis-2012.