Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Laumann (In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Joseph R. Laumann)

399 Wis.2d 466

966 N.W.2d 620

2021 WI 83

In the MATTER OF DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST Joseph R. LAUMANN, Attorney at Law:

Office of Lawyer Regulation, Complainant,

v.Joseph R. Laumann, Respondent.

No. 2018AP1478-D

Supreme Court of Wisconsin.

Opinion Filed: November 23, 2021

ATTORNEY reinstatement proceeding. Reinstatement granted.

PER CURIAM.

¶1 This court has pending before it Attorney Joseph R. Laumann's petition for reinstatement of his license to practice law in Wisconsin. Upon consideration of the reinstatement petition; the Office of Lawyer Regulation's (OLR) response pursuant to Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 22.30(4) ; the parties’ SCR 22.30(5)(a) stipulation; and the OLR's memorandum in support of the stipulation, we conclude that Attorney Laumann's petition for reinstatement should be granted.

¶2 Attorney Laumann was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1999. He had been admitted to practice law in Maryland in 1998. Attorney Laumann's Wisconsin law license was suspended in May 2008 for failure to comply with continuing legal education (CLE) requirements and in October of 2008 for failure to pay state bar dues. The Board of Bar Examiners filed a memorandum on June 22, 2021, stating that Attorney Laumann was currently in compliance with the court's CLE and ethics and professional responsibility requirements. His Wisconsin law license remains administratively suspended for failure to pay state bar dues.

¶3 On January 18, 2019, this court suspended Attorney Laumann's Wisconsin law license for a period of six months. See In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Laumann, 2019 WI 3, 385 Wis. 2d 152, 922 N.W.2d 520. That suspension was reciprocal to that imposed upon Attorney Laumann by the Court of Appeals of Maryland. Attorney Laumann's misconduct in Maryland arose out of four separate client matters and included failing to maintain a client's funds in trust; misrepresenting to a bankruptcy court that he had mailed payments to a bankruptcy trustee; failing to maintain adequate trust account records; withdrawing cash from his trust account for unauthorized purposes; failing to appear on time for a divorce hearing and misrepresenting to a court why he had missed the hearing; improperly filing a complaint for child custody in one county when he knew that the client had a custody proceeding already pending in another county; improperly disclosing confidential and privileged information in court filings; failing to have a written fee agreement with a client; attempting to collect legal fees from a client that had previously been collected; and increasing his hourly rate without communicating the rate increase to the client.

¶4 Attorney Laumann filed a petition for the reinstatement of his Wisconsin law license on June 21, 2021. The OLR investigated Attorney Laumann's petition and found he had demonstrated that he has satisfied all of the criteria for reinstatement. The OLR noted that Attorney Laumann has maintained competence and learning in the law by attendance at identified educational activities. It also noted that Attorney Laumann's conduct since his suspension has been exemplary and beyond reproach and he has a proper understanding of an attitude toward the standards that are imposed upon members of the bar and will act in conformity with those standards.

¶5 On September 20, 2021, the parties filed a stipulation in which the OLR stated that Attorney Laumann has met his SCR 22.305 burden to prove by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence:

(1) That he has the moral character to practice law in Wisconsin.

(2) That his resumption of the practice of law will not be detrimental to the administration of justice or subversive of the public interest.

(3) That his representations in the petition, including the representations required by SCR 22.29(4)(a) to (m) and 22.29(5), are

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