In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Krause
This text of 562 N.W.2d 135 (In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Krause) 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.
Opinion
¶ 1. We review the stipulation filed by the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility (Board) in which it and Attorney Harold E. Krause, Jr. stipulated, pursuant to SCR 21.09(3m),1 to [275]*275the imposition of a one-year suspension of Attorney Krause's license to practice law in Wisconsin as discipline for professional misconduct in his handling of two clients' personal injury settlements reciprocal to the license suspension imposed on him in Rhode Island for that misconduct. We determine that the license suspension to which the parties have stipulated is appropriate discipline to impose in this jurisdiction for Attorney Krause's professional misconduct in another jurisdiction where admitted to the practice of law.
¶ 2. Attorney Krause was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1970 and has been suspended from practice since October, 1988 for failure to pay dues to the State Bar, in which he currently is registered as an inactive member. He has not been the subject of a prior disciplinary proceeding in Wisconsin.
¶ 3. In May, 1996, the Rhode Island Supreme Court suspended Attorney Krause's license to practice law there as discipline for professional misconduct. It was established in a disciplinary proceeding that he had transferred the balance of a personal injury settlement belonging to his client into his personal checking account. Five months later he sent the client a check for [276]*276the amount to which the client was entitled but put a stop payment order on that check. Five weeks later he gave the client a check and cash totaling the amount to which she was entitled.
¶ 4. In a second matter, Attorney Krause deposited a settlement made on behalf of a client into his business checking account. The check he subsequently gave the client for her portion of the settlement proceeds was dishonored when presented for payment. The following day, he gave her a good check for $8000 of the $9620 to which she was entitled and paid her the balance 10 days later. However, he did not pay that client's medical bills until several months after receiving the settlement proceeds. Some of those bills were not paid until more than 18 months after settlement.
¶ 5. The parties stipulated that the professional misconduct established in the Rhode Island proceeding violated the following Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys in Wisconsin. His deposit of funds belonging to clients into an account other than a client trust account and failure to promptly disburse them to the clients entitled to them violated SCR 20:1.15(a) and (b).2 That conduct also violated SCR 20:8.4(c),3 which [277]*277proscribes conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
¶ 6. We adopt the findings of fact and conclusions to which the parties stipulated. As discipline for that misconduct, we impose a one-year license suspension.
¶ 7. IT Is ORDERED that the license of Harold E. Krause, Jr. to practice law in Wisconsin is suspended for one year, commencing the date of this order, as discipline for professional misconduct.
¶ 8. It Is Further Ordered that Harold E. Krause, Jr. comply with the provisions of SCR 22.26 concerning the duties of a person whose license to practice law in Wisconsin has been suspended.
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack
562 N.W.2d 135, 209 Wis. 2d 274, 1997 Wisc. LEXIS 49, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-disciplinary-proceedings-against-krause-wis-1997.