21.07(6)
(6) The portions of the meetings of the preliminary review committee and of the panels relating to specific disciplinary matters are closed. The portions of the meetings relating to other matters are open.
21.07(7)
(7) The preliminary review committee and the panels shall take and retain full and complete minutes of the open and closed sessions of their meetings. The minutes of the open sessions are available to the public.
21.07(8)
(8) The preliminary review panels shall function pursuant to the procedures set forth in SCR chapter 22.
21.07(9)
(9) Members of the preliminary review committee are entitled to reimbursement for expenses incurred in connection with membership on the committee.
SCR 21.07 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix; Sup. Ct. Order No.
01-12, 2001 WI 120, 247 Wis. 2d xiii; Sup. Ct. Order No.
04-10, 2005 WI 56, 279 Wis. 2d xiii.
21.08
SCR 21.08
Referees. 21.08(1)(1) Members of a permanent panel of attorneys and reserve judges appointed by the supreme court shall serve as referees to conduct hearings on complaints of attorney misconduct, petitions alleging attorney medical incapacity, and petitions for license reinstatement, to make findings, conclusions and recommendations and submit them to the supreme court for review and appropriate action, to review consensual discipline under SCR 22.09, and to review determinations of the preliminary review panels under SCR 22.07 (4) that the director has failed to establish cause to proceed in a matter.
21.08(2)
(2) Referees shall function pursuant to the procedures set forth in SCR chapter 22.
SCR 21.08 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix.
21.09
SCR 21.09
Supreme court. 21.09(1)(1) The supreme court determines attorney misconduct and medical incapacity and imposes discipline or directs other action in attorney misconduct and medical incapacity proceedings filed with the court.
21.09(2)
(2) The supreme court shall meet with the director, with the preliminary review committee, and with the board of administrative oversight annually to discuss the operation of the lawyer regulation system and consider improvements in its operation.
SCR 21.09 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix.
21.10
SCR 21.10
Board of administrative oversight. 21.10(1)
(1) The 12-member board of administrative oversight of the lawyer regulation system consists of 8 lawyers and 4 public members appointed by the supreme court. Members serve staggered three-year terms. A member may serve not more than two consecutive three-year terms.
21.10(2)
(2) The duties of the board of administrative oversight are:
21.10(2)(a)
(a) To monitor the fairness, productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency of the attorney regulation system, including intake, the time required for disposition of an allegation of attorney misconduct or medical incapacity, the presence of a quorum at meetings of the preliminary review panels and the frequency of divided votes determining cause to proceed, variations in specific matters among the discipline sought by the director, the discipline recommended by the referee, and the discipline imposed by the supreme court.
21.10(2)(b)
(b) To monitor implementation of new procedures in the lawyer regulation system.
21.10(2)(c)
(c) To assess the public's and the bar's perception of the integrity of the lawyer regulation system.
21.10(2)(d)
(d) To report its findings to the supreme court.
21.10(2)(e)
(e) To review periodically with the supreme court the operation of the lawyer regulation system and to file an annual report with the supreme court of the system's activities during the preceding year.
21.10(2)(f)
(f) To propose for consideration by the supreme court substantive and procedural rules related to the regulation of lawyers.
21.10(2)(g)
(g) To inform and educate the public and the bar about the operation of the lawyer regulation system.
21.10(2)(h)
(h) To propose to the supreme court, after consultation with the director, an annual budget for the office of lawyer regulation.
21.10(3)
(3) The board of administrative oversight has no substantive or procedural function in the lawyer regulation system as it concerns particular matters and does not exercise administrative oversight or supervision of the operation of the lawyer regulation system in respect to specific matters or proceedings involving allegations of attorney misconduct or medical incapacity. A member of the board may not contact investigative or prosecutorial staff directly in respect to a particular investigative or prosecutorial matter, whether completed, pending or contemplated. A member of the board may contact investigative or prosecutorial staff directly and privately in respect to purely administrative matters.
21.10(4)
(4) The board shall hold at least four regularly scheduled meetings each year. The meetings shall be open to the public except as otherwise provided by law. A majority of members currently serving constitutes a quorum of the board. At its first meeting each calendar year the board shall elect a chairperson, a vice-chairperson to act in the absence of the chairperson, and such other officers as it may consider necessary.
21.10(5)
(5) The board shall take and retain full and complete minutes of the open and closed sessions of its meetings, including the identification of members whose motions, votes, and comments are recorded, and shall provide a copy of the minutes of the open session of each meeting to each member of the supreme court as soon as practicable following the meeting. The minutes of the open sessions are available to the public.
21.10(6)
(6) Members of the board are entitled to reimbursement for expenses incurred in connection with membership on the board.
SCR 21.10 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix; Sup. Ct. Order No.
04-10, 2005 WI 56, 279 Wis. 2d xiii.
21.11
SCR 21.11
Training of lawyer regulation system participants. 21.11(1)(1) The director and current staff of the office of lawyer regulation shall provide formal training for new members of the staff.
21.11(2)
(2) The director shall provide formal training in procedural and substantive ethics rules to the members of the district committees. Committee members shall attend at least one training session within the first year of appointment as a condition of appointment, unless the director extends the time to fulfill the training requirement.
21.11(3)
(3) The director and current members of the preliminary review committee shall provide formal training to new members of the preliminary review committee.
21.11(4)
(4) Staff of the supreme court shall provide formal training to the referees.
21.11(5)
(5) The director and current members of the board of administrative oversight shall provide formal training to the new members of the board of administrative oversight.
21.11(6)
(6) The training provided in (1) through (3) and (5) shall emphasize the role and the importance of the contributions of public member participants in the lawyer regulation system.
SCR 21.11 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix; Sup. Ct. Order No.
01-12, 2001 WI 120, 247 Wis. 2d xiii; Sup. Ct. Order No.
04-10, 2005 WI 56, 279 Wis. 2d xiii.
21.12
SCR 21.12
Roles of office of lawyer regulation, grievant, and district committees. In the investigation process and in the prosecution of complaints alleging attorney misconduct and petitions alleging attorney medical incapacity, the director and staff of the office of lawyer regulation and the district committees do not represent the complaining person, the attorney against whom a grievance has been made, the bar generally, or any other person or group. The director, staff of the office of lawyer regulation, and district committees represent the interests of the supreme court and the public in the integrity of the lawyer regulation system in its search for the truth. A grievant is not a party to a misconduct or medical incapacity proceeding brought by the office of lawyer regulation.
SCR 21.12 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix; Sup. Ct. Order No.
01-12, 2001 WI 120, 247 Wis. 2d xiii; Sup. Ct. Order No.
01-12A, 2002 WI 8, 249 Wis. 2d xiii.
21.13
SCR 21.13
Official duties. When acting in the course of their official duties under SCR chs.
21 and
22, the following are acting on behalf of the supreme court in respect to the statutes and supreme court rules and orders regulating the conduct of attorneys:
21.13(1)
(1) The director and staff of the office of lawyer regulation.
21.13(3)
(3) Members of district committees.
21.13(5)
(5) Members of the preliminary review committee.
21.13(6)
(6) Members of a special preliminary review panel.
21.13(8)
(8) Members of the board of administrative oversight.
21.13(9)
(9) Attorneys designated by the director to monitor compliance with diversion agreements or with conditions imposed by the supreme court in misconduct and medical incapacity proceedings, or to investigate or conduct a hearing in a reinstatement proceeding.
SCR 21.13 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix; Sup. Ct. Order No.
01-12A, 2002 WI 8, 249 Wis. 2d xiii.
21.14
SCR 21.14
Conflict of interests, recusal. 21.14(1)
(1) The following may not take part in a matter in which they are a complaining person, grievant, or respondent or in which their own interests outside of their official duties under SCR chs.
21 and
22 reasonably may be perceived to impair their impartiality or when a judge similarly situated would be disqualified under s.
757.19, 1997 stats. or recusal would be required under SCR 60.04 (4):
21.14(1)(a)
(a) The director and staff of the office of lawyer regulation.
21.14(1)(e)
(e) Members of the preliminary review committee.
21.14(1)(f)
(f) Members of a special preliminary review panel.
21.14(1)(h)
(h) Attorneys designated by the director to monitor an attorney's participation in a diversion from discipline program or compliance with conditions imposed on the attorney's practice of law.
21.14(1)(i)
(i) Members of the board of administrative oversight.
21.14(2)
(2) Allegations of misconduct or malfeasance against the director, staff of the office of lawyer regulation, retained counsel, a member of a district committee, a special investigator, a member of the preliminary review committee, a member of a special preliminary review panel, a referee, an attorney designated by the director to monitor an attorney's participation in a diversion from discipline program or compliance with conditions imposed on the attorney's practice of law, or a member of the board of administrative oversight shall be governed by the procedures under SCR 22.25.
SCR 21.14 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix; Sup. Ct. Order No.
01-12, 2001 WI 120, 247 Wis. 2d xiii; Sup. Ct. Order No.
01-12A, 2002 WI 8, 249 Wis. 2d xiii.
21.15
SCR 21.15
Duties of attorneys. 21.15(1)
(1) Pursuant to SCR 20:8.5 (a), an attorney admitted to practice law or practicing law in Wisconsin is subject to the lawyer regulation system, whether he or she practices in Wisconsin or in other jurisdictions and regardless of where the attorney's conduct occurs.
21.15(2)
(2) A license to practice law authorizes a person to practice law and to participate in the administration of justice. It is the duty of every attorney to act in conformity with standards imposed upon attorneys as conditions of the privilege to practice law set forth in SCR chapter 20: rules of professional conduct for attorneys.
21.15(3)
(3) An attorney has the duty to refer a member of the public who wishes to communicate an inquiry about or a grievance against an attorney to the director.
21.15(4)
(4) Every attorney shall cooperate with the office of lawyer regulation in the investigation, prosecution and disposition of grievances, complaints filed with or by the director, and petitions for reinstatement. An attorney's willful failure to cooperate with the office of lawyer regulation constitutes violation of the rules of professional conduct for attorneys.
21.15(5)
(5) An attorney found guilty or convicted of any crime on or after July 1, 2002, shall notify in writing the office of lawyer regulation and the clerk of the Supreme Court within 5 days after the finding or conviction, whichever first occurs. The notice shall include the identity of the attorney, the date of finding or conviction, the offenses, and the jurisdiction. An attorney's failure to notify the office of lawyer regulation and clerk of the supreme court of being found guilty or his or her conviction is misconduct.
SCR 21.15 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix; Sup. Ct. Order No.
01-12A, 2002 WI 8, 249 Wis. 2d xiii.
21.16
SCR 21.16 Discipline. 21.16(1m)(1m) Any of the following may be imposed on an attorney as discipline for misconduct pursuant to the procedure set forth in SCR chapter 22:
21.16(1m)(d)
(d) Conditions on the continued practice of law.
21.16(1m)(f)
(f) Conditions on seeking license reinstatement.
21.16(2m)(a)(a) An attorney may be ordered to do any of the following as restitution under sub. (1m) (em):
21.16(2m)(a)1.
1. Pay monetary restitution to the person whose money or property was misappropriated or misapplied in the amount or value of such money or property as found in the disciplinary proceedings.
21.16(2m)(a)2.
2. Reimburse the Wisconsin lawyers' fund for client protection for awards made to the person whose money or property was misappropriated or misapplied.
21.16(2m)(b)
(b) Any payment made as restitution under par. (a) does not limit, preclude or impair any liability for damages in any civil action or proceeding for an amount in excess of the payment.
21.16(2m)(c)
(c) Upon ordering restitution to the Wisconsin lawyers' fund for client protection under par. (a) 2., the supreme court shall issue a judgment and furnish a transcript of the judgment to the Fund. The transcript of the judgment may be filed and docketed in the office of the clerk of court in any county and shall have the same force and effect as judgments docketed under ss.
809.25 and
806.16, Stats.
SCR 21.16 History
History: Sup. Ct. Order No.
99-03, 2000 WI 106, 237 Wis. 2d xix; Sup. Ct. Order No.
06-04, 2007 WI 48, 297 Wis. 2d xv.
SCR 21.16 Note
Case Notes: The factors to consider in imposing discipline are: 1) the seriousness, nature, and extent of the misconduct; 2) the level of discipline needed to protect the public, the courts, and the legal system from repetition of the attorney's misconduct; 3) the need to impress upon the attorney the seriousness of the misconduct; and 4) the need to deter other attorneys from committing similar misconduct. Disciplinary Proceedings Against Carroll,
2001 WI 130,
248 Wis. 2d 662,
636 N.W.2d 718.
SCR 21.16 Annotation
A psychological condition may constitute mitigation of the seriousness of misconduct or of the severity of discipline, if shown to be causally related to the misconduct. Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Scanlan,
2006 WI 38,
290 Wis. 2d 30,
712 N.W.2d 877,
04-1930.
21.17
SCR 21.17 Medical incapacity suspension, conditions. The license of an attorney to practice law may be suspended indefinitely or conditions may be imposed on the attorney's practice of law with the attorney's consent or upon a finding that the attorney has a medical incapacity, pursuant to the procedure set forth in SCR chapter 22.
