Lawyer Discipline
The Office of Lawyer
Regulation (formerly known as the Board of Attorneys Professional
Responsibility), an agency of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and component
of the lawyer regulation system, assists the court in carrying out its
constitutional responsibility to supervise the practice of law and
protect the public from misconduct by persons practicing law in
Wisconsin. The Office of Lawyer Regulation has offices located at Suite
315, 110 E. Main St., Madison, WI 53703, and Suite 300, 342 N. Water
St., Milwaukee, WI 53202. Toll-free telephone: (877) 315-6941.
Public Reprimand of John E. Raftery
John E. Raftery, 56, Sheboygan, has been publicly reprimanded.
Raftery had represented a client for many years. In about 1994, the
client was attempting to sell a timeshare and consulted with Raftery
regarding the sale. Raftery offered to purchase the timeshare himself
and paid the client the $2,500 purchase price. Raftery agreed to prepare
and register the appropriate documents to transfer title to the
property, but he failed to do so.
The client subsequently received bills for timeshare maintenance
fees, which he turned over to Raftery. Raftery assured him that he would
take care of the bills, but in early 1999, the client received
collection notices for unpaid maintenance fees. Raftery failed to
respond to phone calls and letters from the client. In May 1999,
although Raftery negotiated a compromise settlement with the timeshare
owners for the outstanding fees and made a payment of $1,500, he still
did not prepare any transfer documents.
When the client filed a grievance, Raftery failed to respond to two
requests for a written response. Raftery also failed to respond to an
initial inquiry from a committee investigator, but did subsequently
cooperate with the committee's investigation. The Board of Attorneys
Professional Responsibility voted to publicly reprimand Raftery on the
condition that he conclude the timeshare transaction. Raftery eventually
accomplished the transfer in early 2001.
Raftery was publicly reprimanded for entering into a business
transaction with a client without giving the client a reasonable
opportunity to seek the advice of independent counsel or obtaining the
client's written consent to the transaction, contrary to SCR
20:1.8(a)(2)&(3); failing to act with reasonable diligence and
promptness in preparing the transfer documents, contrary to SCR 20:1.3;
failing to respond to the client's reasonable attempts to communicate,
contrary to SCR 20:1.4(a); and failing to cooperate with the grievance
investigation, contrary to SCR 22.07 (1999).
Wisconsin Lawyer
