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Attorney’s license suspended for drunk driving, domestic violence convictions

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//April 24, 2015//

Attorney’s license suspended for drunk driving, domestic violence convictions

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//April 24, 2015//

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended the license of a Fox Lake attorney who had been arrested and convicted multiple times for drunken driving and domestic violence.

According to the court’s order issued Friday, Paul Belke’s convictions show “a significant lapse in judgment and a very serious disregard for public safety.”

Belke graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1996 and has not been previously professionally disciplined.

He could not immediately be reached Friday.

Friday’s discipline stems from a Jan. 7, 2014, Office of Lawyer Regulation complaint alleging 13 counts of misconduct. Belke was convicted several times from 2010 to 2013, including for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, bail jumping and domestic violence against his mother. He did not report those convictions to the OLR.

The OLR’s complaint asked the Supreme Court to suspend Belke’s license for 120 days. A court-appointed referee had asked that it be suspended for 90 days based on the court’s 1998 decision regarding Oshkosh attorney Ann Cahill, who was convicted of eight misdemeanors in the span of 16 months, including operating while intoxicated, disorderly conduct and writing a worthless check.

According to the referee, Cahill’s case was more serious because she was convicted of an additional misdemeanor and of fraud.

While the court agreed that Cahill’s case was more serious, the justices disagreed with the referee’s suggested discipline.

According to the order issued by the court Friday, suspending Belke’s license for 90 days “would be insufficient to impress upon Attorney Belke the seriousness of his misconduct and deter him and others from committing similar misconduct in the future.”

The justices also ordered Belke to pay S3,316.55, the cost of the disciplinary proceeding, and to participate in a monitoring contract with the Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program, a service provided to State Bar members.

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