Disciplinary Proceedings

Listen to this article

WI Supreme Court

Disciplinary Proceedings

2014AP804-D Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Pamela J. Smoler

Attorney takes loan from former client and fails to repay pursuant to promissory note, fails to properly notify client regarding case dismissal, fails to return advanced fees in trust and fails to cooperate with OL investigation. License suspended as a result.

“We agree with the referee that the allegations in the OLR’s complaint have been established and that Attorney Smoler engaged in the seven counts of misconduct alleged in the complaint. We further agree with the referee that a nine-month suspension of Attorney Smoler’s license to practice law is an appropriate sanction for her misconduct. Although no two fact situations are identical, a nine-month suspension is generally consistent with the sanctions imposed in somewhat analogous cases. For example, in In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Pitts, 2007 WI 112, 304 Wis. 2d 556, 735 N.W.2d 917, an attorney’s license was suspended for six months for ten counts of misconduct including entering into a business transaction with a client without giving her a reasonable opportunity to seek the advice of independent counsel, reducing the loan to writing, or obtaining the client’s written consent to the loan. The attorney in Pitts loaned $1,000 to his client. By contrast, Attorney Smoler borrowed large sums of money from her clients. In In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Phillips, 2006 WI 43, 290 Wis. 2d 87, 713 N.W.2d 629, an attorney’s license was suspended for one year for seven counts of misconduct including borrowing $145,000 from a client without giving the client a reasonable opportunity to seek the advice of independent counsel, failing to provide the terms of the loan to the client in an understandable writing, and failing to obtain the client’s written consent to the transaction. The conduct at issue in the instant case seems to fall somewhere between the Pitts and Phillips cases. Accordingly, we find it appropriate to suspend Attorney Smoler’s license for nine months.”

License Suspended for 9 months. Restitution Ordered

Full Text

Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.