Vol. 75, No. 3, March
2002
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
Thomas J. Fink
The Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) and Thomas J. Fink, 66,
Menasha, entered into an agreement for imposition of a public reprimand,
pursuant to SCR 22.09(1). A referee appointed by the Wisconsin Supreme
Court thereafter approved the agreement, and issued the public reprimand
in accordance with SCR 22.09(3).
On or about June 1, 1999, the personal representative for a
deceased's estate hired Fink to probate the estate, which consisted of a
home, personal possessions within the home, and a single bank account.
Fink made proper initial filings in the estate on June 30, 1999, and
subsequently did work in connection with the sale of the decedent's
home, which was completed by August 1999. Fink asserted that in the
latter part of 1999, after the home sale, he had conferences with the
personal representative concerning certain bills for which the estate
would be liable. As of December 2000, Fink did little if anything else
in the matter.
By failing to advance the probate in that period, Fink violated SCR
20:1.3, which requires an attorney to represent a client with reasonable
diligence and promptness. Fink also failed to respond to the personal
representative's inquiries or otherwise keep her apprised of case status
in a manner that complied with SCR 20:1.4(a). Fink also failed to file a
required written response to the personal representative's grievance, in
violation of former SCR 21.03(4) and 22.07(2), which were in effect
prior to Oct. 1, 2000.
In a separate matter, OLR commenced an investigation based on the
content of a newspaper article sent to OLR, which pertained to Fink's
representation of a criminal defendant in a felony case. The article
reported that Fink had been removed from the case after failing to
appear at a motion hearing at which both the defendant and the
prosecutor indicated they could not achieve contact with Fink. Fink
failed to file a required written response with OLR in the matter,
contrary to current SCR 21.15(4), 22.001(9)(b), and 22.03(6). Fink,
however, subsequently appeared for an investigative interview with OLR
staff. In the course of the interview and shortly thereafter, Fink
provided information that indicated the possible misconduct described in
the newspaper article could not be proven by clear, satisfactory, and
convincing evidence.
Fink previously was publicly reprimanded by the supreme court for
misconduct involving violations of SCR 20:1.4(a), 20:1.16(d), and former
SCR 21.03(4) and 22.07(2). Disciplinary Proceedings Against Fink, 244
Wis. 2d 518, 628 N.W.2d 362 (2001).
Wisconsin Lawyer
