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.