Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Schlieve

2015 WI 80, 364 Wis. 2d 275
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 15, 2015
Docket1997AP003862-D
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2015 WI 80 (Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Schlieve) 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. Schlieve, 2015 WI 80, 364 Wis. 2d 275 (Wis. 2015).

Opinions

PER CURIAM.

¶ 1. Nancy A. Schlieve has appealed from a referee's report recommending the denial of Attorney Schlieve's petition for reinstatement of her license to practice law in Wisconsin. Attorney Schlieve argues that the medical incapacity which resulted in the suspension of her law license has been removed and that she is fit to resume the practice of law.

¶ 2. After careful consideration of the matter and after hearing oral argument, we conclude that Attor[278]*278ney Schlieve has failed to meet her burden under Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 22.36(6) to show by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence that she is currently fit to resume the practice of law. Accordingly, we deny her reinstatement petition. We also find it appropriate to impose the full amount of costs of this reinstatement proceeding, which are $20,367.49 as of January 29, 2015.

I 3. Attorney Schlieve was licensed to practice law in Wisconsin in 1990. In 1997, this court imposed conditions on her license directed toward her rehabilitation from alcoholism. See In re Medical Incapacity Proceeding Against Schlieve, Case No. 96-3390-D, 212 Wis. 2d 693, 569 N.W.2d 593 (Table) (1997). In 1998, this court suspended Attorney Schlieve's license due to her medical incapacity of alcoholism. The suspension was imposed for an indefinite time. See In re Medical Incapacity Proceedings Against Schlieve, 221 Wis. 2d 610, 585 N.W.2d 585 (1998).

¶ 4. In 2006, Attorney Schlieve filed a petition seeking the reinstatement of her license to practice law. This court denied reinstatement on the grounds that Attorney Schlieve had failed to meet her burden of proving "fitness" as required by SCR 22.36(6). See In re Medical Incapacity Proceedings Against Schlieve, 2010 WI 22, 323 Wis. 2d 654, 780 N.W.2d 516.

¶ 5. Attorney Schlieve filed a second petition for reinstatement on September 10, 2012. James G. Curtis, Jr. was appointed as referee on December 18, 2012. A hearing was held over the course of two days, with testimony completed on March 13, 2014.

¶ 6. One of the witnesses who testified at the hearing was Linda Albert, who manages the Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program (WisLAP) which provides the systems and monitoring for attorneys. Ms. Albert [279]*279testified that Attorney Schlieve had contacted WisLAP in the spring of 2013 inquiring about monitoring since she was applying for reinstatement of her license to practice law. Ms. Albert explained:

Nancy came into the program and, unlike the majority of monitoring participants, has exhibited behaviors that have required a lot of clarification of what is to be done within monitoring.
So a difficult time following directions of the program, you know, having directions to make sure and report all prescription medication to us, and then discovering that she hasn't done that and having to ask for that. You know, she has wanted to dictate the terms of her testing, you know, when testing will be and how it will be done and why we would need to do hair testing.
She had a positive screen for a mood-altering substance in her September of 2013 screen. And I asked her about it, and her answer was very vague and something about, you know, having gotten medications from different countries when she was traveling and she didn't know if that could cause it.
And so we have to take a lot of time trying to verify very objective data. And so, for example, with the positive screen, we even went to her doctor and asked for a list of prescribed mediations. And when that came back, it did not include any medication — any prescription for something with codeine in it for September of 2013; yet she had a positive screen for codeine. So it's been these types of things that have become particularly time-consuming and difficult with not following the directions and the questioning and not agreeing with.
[280]*280So, in essence, what I have said to Nancy is — you know, sent her a letter to state, you know, we can follow her through her hearing today, but that she's no longer appropriate to be in the monitoring program.
* * * *
It's been a case of difficulty of getting information, problems following directions, causing problems at the collection site, not giving access to medical providers when the contract requires it. So I don't anticipate that those things would change because we've tried hard to work with them and to redirect and to ask for what we need.....
We don't have the staff time. And I don't think that it's probably in the best interest to, you know, try to continue to work with that behavior versus just not have the relationship for either party. ....
* * * *
I would say that 99% of the people that have come into monitoring are able to follow the instructions and understand them and do things according to sequence and provide the information requested.
And it's a pretty rare case when someone is not able to do that.

¶ 7. Testimony was also received at the hearing from persons in the Eau Claire city attorney's office. Eau Claire City Attorney Stephen Nick testified that in his opinion Attorney Schlieve had been dishonest, abused the legal system, lacked the ability to navigate the city and court procedures, and engaged in a pattern of intentional delay and avoidance with respect to various city citations issued against her relating to rental property. Assistant City Attorney Stephen [281]*281Bohrer testified about the numerous problems he had encountered with Attorney Schlieve on various citation matters. He said she would send undated faxes with no return fax or phone number. Mr. Bohrer concluded that Attorney Schlieve was manipulating the dates on the faxes for purposes of causing delay or causing cases to become more complicated than they needed to be. Mr. Bohrer said Attorney Schlieve's professionalism was very poor and his inability to reach and communicate with her was very frustrating.

¶ 8. The referee issued his report and recommendation on May 5, 2014. The referee said that in the 2010 decision denying her previous reinstatement petition, this court noted that under SCR 22.36(6), 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 conditions. The referee also noted that the term "fit," as used in SCR 22.36(6), with the phrase "to practice law," encompasses more than removal of a medical incapacity, and that the term "fit" is sufficiently broad to imply a state of preparedness to render competent legal services.

¶ 9. The referee noted that Attorney Schlieve has not practiced law since 1998, and during that time she has not been employed outside the home. She has primarily spent her time caring for her son, who has medical issues. The referee noted that in addition to caring for her son, Attorney Schlieve has been active in her church, in dog rescue efforts, and in other community affairs.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Schlieve
2015 WI 80 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2015 WI 80, 364 Wis. 2d 275, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/office-of-lawyer-regulation-v-schlieve-wis-2015.