Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Linehan

2015 WI 82, 867 N.W.2d 806, 364 Wis. 2d 296, 2015 Wisc. LEXIS 486
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 15, 2015
Docket1989AP001848-D
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2015 WI 82 (Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Linehan) 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. Linehan, 2015 WI 82, 867 N.W.2d 806, 364 Wis. 2d 296, 2015 Wisc. LEXIS 486 (Wis. 2015).

Opinions

[297]*297PER CURIAM.

¶ 1. We review a report filed by Referee James G. Curtis, recommending that the court reinstate, with conditions, Daniel W. Linehan's license to practice law in Wisconsin. After careful review of the matter, we agree that Attorney Linehan's license should be reinstated and that conditions should be placed upon his practice of law. We also conclude that Attorney Linehan should be required to pay the full costs of this reinstatement proceeding, which are $15,714.12 as of April 14, 2015.

¶ 2. Attorney Linehan was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1977 and practiced in Madison. In 1989, this court granted Attorney Linehan's petition for license revocation by consent and revoked his license to practice law in Wisconsin effective November 1, 1989. See In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Linehan, 151 Wis. 2d 797, 446 N.W.2d 450 (1989).

[298]*298¶ 3. Attorney Linehan's petition for voluntary revocation of his license to practice law stated that he was the subject of an investigation of possible misconduct with respect to his representation of a client "and is also the subject of an investigation involving possible misconduct and medical incapacity due to chronic substance abuse." Attorney Linehan acknowledged that he could not successfully defend against the allegations of misconduct. As additional background, he stated that he had been afflicted with a longstanding, chronic sickness or disease involving several forms of substance abuse, which sickness or disease was a factor which contributed to the conduct resulting in the misconduct allegations that were the subject of investigations by the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility (BAPR), the predecessor in interest to the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR). The petition for voluntary revocation stated that, despite both inpatient and outpatient treatment, Attorney Linehan continued to be afflicted by chronic and significant problems involving substance abuse. Attorney Linehan stated that he believed he was unable to obtain the long-term treatment needed to effectively recover from his medical condition and still practice law at the same time. He stated that his desire to voluntarily surrender his license to practice law was based in part upon his belief that he had a medical incapacity, and that he desired to obtain further treatment for that condition.

¶ 4. The two-page published order revoking Attorney Linehan's license to practice law by consent stated that Attorney Linehan was a subject of investigation by BAPR

in connection with his use of client trust funds for his own personal purposes, deposit of personal loan proceeds into his client trust account, failure to promptly [299]*299pay settlement proceeds to a client and fully account to the client for those proceeds he had deposited in his trust account, failure to maintain records pertaining to his trust account and record the purpose of disbursements from that account and his chronic substance abuse.

Linehan, 151 Wis. 2d at 798.

¶ 5. Attorney Linehan filed petitions for the reinstatement of his license to practice law in 1996 and 1998, both of which were withdrawn. His most recent reinstatement petition was filed on February 18, 2014. Referee Curtis was appointed on April 8, 2014. The referee held an evidentiary hearing in January of 2015 and issued his report and recommendation on March 25, 2015.

f 6. The referee said that, as a result of the evidence presented at the hearing and the numerous exhibits received by stipulation, it was clear that "[t]his is, first and foremost, a medical incapacity case." The referee said there was no doubt that a medical incapacity in the form of chronic substance abuse directly caused Attorney Linehan's trust account misconduct. The referee said that, because this case was submitted to the court in 1989 as a consensual revocation, the court was presented with limited information about the substance abuse allegations.

¶ 7. The referee noted that an attorney seeking reinstatement after a disciplinary suspension or revocation 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 [300]*300revocation order and the requirements of Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 22.26. In addition, SCR 22.31(1)(c) incorporates the statements that a petition for reinstatement must contain pursuant to SCR 22.29(4)(a)-(4m). Among other things, an attorney seeking the reinstatement of his license has the burden to prove that his conduct since revocation has been "exemplary and above reproach." SCR 22.29(4). The referee noted that Attorney Linehan freely admitted that his conduct during the entire period of revocation has not been exemplary and above reproach, given that he continued to suffer from alcohol and substance abuse issues through at least 2009. Consequently, the referee said that if this court were to deem Attorney Linehan's reinstatement petition as having been filed under SCR 22.29, the referee would have to conclude that Attorney Linehan failed to meet his burden of proof in a number of respects, most significantly that Attorney Linehan has failed to demonstrate that his conduct since the revocation has been exemplary and above reproach. The referee went on to say, "But even if Mr. Linehan waited another 10 years to seek reinstatement, and exhibited exemplary conduct during that time, he could never prove that his conduct since the 1989 revocation has been exemplary and above reproach. His past misdeeds would always come back to haunt him."

¶ 8. In the referee's view, Attorney Linehan's revocation by consent should be viewed as a revocation based on a medical incapacity, meaning that reinstatement is governed by SCR 22.36. Under that rule, the petitioner has the burden of showing by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence that the medical incapacity has been removed and that the petitioner is fit to resume the practice of law, with or without condi[301]*301tions. The referee noted that, although there was a component of professional misconduct involved in the consensual license revocation, in the referee's opinion, the misconduct itself was not sufficient to warrant an outright revocation and the more significant impetus for the consensual revocation was Attorney Linehan's medical incapacity. The referee said that, in the event this case is viewed as a medical incapacity reinstatement matter, the referee is satisfied that the medical incapacity has been removed and that Attorney Linehan's license to practice law in Wisconsin should be reinstated, with conditions.

¶ 9. In reaching this conclusion, the referee noted that "[t]his case presents the Jekyll/Hyde paradox in the life and times of Daniel W. Linehan, who has been 'characterized as sane when he is clean and sober and as insane when he is not.'" The referee found that Attorney Linehan has been afflicted with chronic alcohol and substance abuse since approximately age 15. In the 1980s, prior to his consensual license revocation, Attorney Linehan received both inpatient and outpatient treatment but exhibited a tendency for relapses of his chronic substance abuse.

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Bluebook (online)
2015 WI 82, 867 N.W.2d 806, 364 Wis. 2d 296, 2015 Wisc. LEXIS 486, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/office-of-lawyer-regulation-v-linehan-wis-2015.