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Vol. 71, No. 10,
October 1998
Professional Discipline
The Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility, an arm of the Wisconsin
Supreme Court, assists the court in discharging its exclusive constitutional
responsibility to supervise the practice of law in this state and to protect
the public from acts of professional misconduct by attorneys licensed to
practice in Wisconsin. The board is composed of eight lawyers and four nonlawyer
members, and its offices are located at Room 410, 110 E. Main St., Madison,
WI 53703, and Room 102, 611 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Hearing to reinstate
Herbert L. Usow
On July 26, 1998, Herbert L. Usow filed a petition in the Wisconsin Supreme
Court seeking reinstatement as a member of the bar and restoration of his
license to practice law.
Usow's law license was suspended for six months by the Wisconsin Supreme
Court, effective Jan. 12, 1998. The suspension was based upon Usow's conduct
in a divorce representation. Usow represented a woman who was suffering
from severe mental health problems. During the course of the representation,
he received approximately $1,500 on behalf of the woman, including dividend
checks and support payments from her husband. Some of the funds were deposited
in Usow's business account, rather than in his trust account, in violation
of SCR 20:1.15(a). Usow also failed to provide the woman with written notice
of his receipt of the funds, in violation of SCR 20:1.15(b).
The divorce action ultimately was abandoned when the woman reconciled
with her husband. Following the reconciliation, the woman and her husband
tried for several months to obtain an accounting from Usow to substantiate
the fees he claimed to be owed. Usow finally provided an accounting during
the process of fee arbitration. That accounting contained duplicative, speculative,
and inflated charges, due primarily to carelessness and neglect and to Usow's
failure to adequately supervise his office staff.
The court found that, by sending the accounting to the client, Usow engaged
in conduct involving misrepresentation about the legal services that he
had rendered, in violation of SCR 20:8.4(c).
Finally, by advising the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility
(BAPR) that he had always sent the woman written itemizations of his services,
Usow made a material misrepresentation to BAPR during its investigation,
in violation of SCR 22.07(2). The mishandling of client funds was similar
to misconduct for which Usow's license had been suspended previously.
Usow is required to establish by evidence that is clear and convincing
that he possesses the moral character to practice law in this state and
that his resumption of the practice of law within this state will not be
detrimental to the integrity and standing of the bar or the administration
of justice, or subversive to the public interest.
A public hearing will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 1998, at 6 p.m. in
the conference room of Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, Norris & Rieselbach
S.C., 1000 N. Water St., Suite 2100, Milwaukee, Wis. Any interested person
may appear at the hearing and be heard in support of or in opposition to
the petition for reinstatement. Further information may be obtained from
Jeananne L. Danner, Deputy Administrator, Board of Attorneys Professional
Responsibility, 611 N. Broadway, Suite 102, Milwaukee, WI 53202, (414) 227-4623.
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