Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Jerome J. Babiak

CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedMay 29, 2026
Docket2024AP000587-D
StatusPublished

This text of Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Jerome J. Babiak (Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Jerome J. Babiak) 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
Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Jerome J. Babiak, (Wis. 2026).

Opinion

2026 WI 17

IN THE MATTER OF DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST JEROME J. BABIAK, ATTORNEY AT LAW

OFFICE OF LAWYER REGULATION, Complainant, v. JEROME J. BABIAK, Respondent.

No. 2024AP587-D Decided May 29, 2026

ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDING

¶1 PER CURIAM. We review the report of Referee David A. Piehler, recommending that Attorney Jerome J. Babiak’s Wisconsin law license be suspended for four years as discipline for two counts of misconduct. Regarding the first count, the OLR alleged, the parties stipulated, and the referee concluded that Attorney Babiak’s conduct resulting in his conviction of two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault reflected adversely on his honesty, trustworthiness, and fitness as a lawyer in other respects. See Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 20:8.4(b).1 Regarding the

1Supreme Court Rule 20:8.4(b) states that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to “commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects[.]” IN RE DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ATTORNEY JEROME J. BABIAK Per Curiam

second count, the OLR alleged, the parties stipulated, and the referee concluded that Attorney Babiak’s course of conduct toward the victim violated that portion of the Attorney's Oath, set forth in SCR 40.15 and enforceable via SCR 20:8.4(g), by which an attorney swears to “abstain from all offensive personality.”2 The referee recommends the court set the commencement date of the four-year suspension for January 26, 2024—the date of this court’s order summarily suspending Attorney Babiak’s license as a result of his conviction of a serious crime. See SCR 22.20(1), (2). The referee further recommends that we order Attorney Babiak to pay the full

2 SCR 40.15, Attorney’s oath, states:

The oath or affirmation to be taken to qualify for admission to the practice of law shall be in substantially the following form:

I will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Wisconsin; I will maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers; I will not counsel or maintain any suit or proceeding which shall appear to me to be unjust, or any defense, except such as I believe to be honestly debatable under the law of the land; I will employ, for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to me, such means only as are consistent with truth and honor, and will never seek to mislead the judge or jury by any artifice or false statement of fact or law; I will maintain the confidence and preserve inviolate the secrets of my client and will accept no compensation in connection with my client's business except from my client or with my client's knowledge and approval; I will abstain from all offensive personality and advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless required by the justice of the cause with which I am charged; I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay any person's cause 227 for lucre or malice. So help me God.

SCR 20:8.4(g) states that it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to “violate the attorney’s oath.”

2 IN RE DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ATTORNEY JEROME J. BABIAK Per Curiam

costs of this disciplinary proceeding, which total $13,224.55. No appeal has been filed so we consider this matter pursuant to SCR 22.17(2).3

¶2 We approve and adopt the referee's findings of fact and conclusions of law with respect to Attorney Babiak’s misconduct. We depart from the referee’s recommendation that Attorney Babiak’s misconduct warrants a four-year suspension. For the reasons explained below, we hold that his misconduct warrants revocation, effective January 26, 2024, the effective date of the underlying SCR 22.20 summary suspension. Consistent with our standard practice, we impose the full costs of this proceeding on Attorney Babiak. The OLR did not seek restitution in this matter and no restitution is ordered.

¶3 Attorney Babiak was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 2017. He most recently practiced law in the Wisconsin Rapids area. He has no prior disciplinary history. As mentioned above, on January 26, 2024, this court summarily suspended Attorney Babiak’s Wisconsin law license pursuant to SCR 22.20(1) due to his criminal conviction, which is described more fully below. His license remains suspended.

¶4 The State filed a criminal complaint against Attorney Babiak in March 2023. The criminal complaint alleged two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault by Attorney Babiak of “Amy” (a pseudonym; see generally WIS. STAT. § (Rule) 809.86).

¶5 In May 2023, Attorney Babiak pled guilty to and was convicted of the two charged counts of fourth-degree sexual assault. In June 2023, the circuit court withheld sentence and placed Attorney Babiak on probation for two years.

¶6 Attorney Babiak’s criminal conviction formed the basis for the OLR’s November 2023 motion to summarily suspend his license pursuant to SCR 22.20, which, as mentioned, this court granted on January 26, 2024.

3SCR 22.17(2) states, “If no appeal is filed timely, the supreme court shall review the referee's report; adopt, reject or modify the referee's findings and conclusions or remand the matter to the referee for additional findings; and determine and impose appropriate discipline.”

3 IN RE DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ATTORNEY JEROME J. BABIAK Per Curiam

¶7 Soon thereafter, the OLR filed a disciplinary complaint against Attorney Babiak. The disciplinary complaint alleged the following two counts of misconduct:

COUNT 1

By engaging in conduct resulting in his conviction on two counts of Fourth Degree Sexual Assault, in violation of § 940.225(3m), Attorney Babiak violated SCR 20:8.4(b).

COUNT 2

By engaging in a course of conduct that included flirtatious, romantic and sexually suggestive communications with the victim and physical sexual contact with the victim; and by engaging in physical sexual contact with the victim without her consent in each instance, Babiak violated SCR 20:8.4(g) and SCR 40.15.

The OLR asked the court to revoke Attorney Babiak’s Wisconsin law license as a sanction for his misconduct.

¶8 On May 2, 2024, Attorney Babiak filed an answer to the OLR’s complaint. In it, he denied the two counts of misconduct and raised various affirmative defenses.

¶9 This court appointed David A. Piehler to act as the referee in this matter. In September 2024, the parties entered into a stipulation in which they agreed that “the recitation of the facts contained within the Criminal Complaint are hereby stipulated to as true and correct, and are incorporated into this stipulation by reference.” They further agreed that Attorney Babiak’s conduct as described in the criminal complaint constituted a violation of SCR 20:8.4(b) (Count 1) and a violation of the Attorney's Oath and its mandate that Attorney Babiak not engage in any offensive personality, see SCR 20:8.4(g) and SCR 40.15 (Count 2). The parties further agreed to submit the issue of the appropriate sanction for Attorney Babiak’s misconduct to the referee.

¶10 The referee held an evidentiary hearing on October 30, 2024, at which only Attorney Babiak testified. The parties submitted briefs on the issue of sanctions to the referee. The OLR continued to argue for the

4 IN RE DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ATTORNEY JEROME J. BABIAK Per Curiam

sanction sought in its complaint—revocation. Attorney Babiak asked for a suspension of between two and three years.

¶11 In his report filed January 29, 2025, the referee found, consistent with the parties’ stipulation, that the facts pled in the criminal complaint are true and correct.

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Bluebook (online)
Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Jerome J. Babiak, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/office-of-lawyer-regulation-v-jerome-j-babiak-wis-2026.