On Tuesday, June 9, 2020, beginning at 9 a.m., a public hearing will be held before Referee John Nicholas Schweitzer in the Garden Level Conference Room (Lower Level), 110 E. Main Street, Madison, on the petition of Daniel Parks, Fond du Lac, to reinstate his Wisconsin law license. Any interested person may appear at the hearing and be heard in support of or in opposition to the petition.
If the hearing cannot be held in person due to Covid-19 restrictions, the hearing will be held by remote videoconference at the same date and time set forth above. Any person wishing to testify, attend, or merely watch the proceeding will be given access via videoconference.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Parks’ law license for 14 months, effective Jan. 24, 2019, and ordered him to pay the $42,226.26 cost of the disciplinary proceeding. The court found Parks engaged in misconduct consisting of: engaging in dishonest conduct by privately billing for legal work while employed by the firm; earning fees from non-firm legal work; collaborating with two clients for them to perform work in exchange for a reduction of legal fees; reducing the firm’s attorney fees without authority and accepting an unauthorized $5,000 “gift” from two clients; working on confidential client files on a former client’s computer; and obtaining the signatures of co-beneficiaries on a “release” to the detriment of the estate co-beneficiaries and designed to limit Parks’ liability. Disciplinary Proceedings Against Parks, 2018 WI 110.
To be reinstated, Parks has the burden of substantiating by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence that 1) he has the moral character to practice law in Wisconsin, 2) his resumption of the practice of law will not be detrimental to the administration of justice or subversive of the public interest, 3) all of his representations in his reinstatement petition are substantiated, and 4) he has complied fully with the terms of the order of suspension and with SCR 22.26.
Relevant information can be provided to or obtained from the parties or the referee.
Office of Lawyer Regulation: Assistant Litigation Counsel Kim M. Kluck, P.O. Box 1648, Madison, WI 53701-1648; (608) 267-0977; kim.kluck@wicourts.gov.
Petitioner Daniel Parks: Attorney Peyton B. Engel, Hurley Burish S.C., P.O. Box 1528, Madison, WI 53701-1528; (608) 257-0945; pengel@hurleyburish.com.
Referee: John Nicholas Schweitzer, 4713 Regent St., Madison, WI 53705; (608) 692-8002; jnschweitzer@gmail.com.