Milwaukee attorney agrees to 60-day suspension

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A Milwaukee attorney has agreed to a 60-day suspension of his law license over his alleged misconduct while representing a client in a wrongful-termination case.

Patrick Callahan and the Office of Lawyer Regulation reached a stipulation Dec. 30 stemming from a complaint that the OLR had filed in September. According to court documents, Callahan agreed to the level of discipline the OLR had asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to impose and did not contest any of the facts presented in the complaint.

The five counts of misconduct in the complaint stem from Callahan’s representation of a woman in an age-discrimination case. Callahan, according to the complaint, blew the statute of limitations governing his client’s claim, which had to be filed to the state Department of Workforce Development by February 2012 to be valid. Callahan had his client sign the claim in January 2012 but waited until July 2012 to submit it.

The complaint was dismissed for not being filed on time.

Callahan appealed the dismissal in 2013, saying he was suffering from mental-health troubles that had impaired his work for the client. An administrative law judge affirmed the dismissal.

Unbeknownst to his client, Callahan had got in touch with opposing counsel, offering to settle the case for $10,000.

Also, in July 2012, Callahan filed a lawsuit in Waukesha County Circuit Court on behalf of his client. Yet in February 2013, he wrote a letter to the judge, stating that he had committed “grievous acts of misconduct.” Among other things, he provided details of how he had failed to file his client’s claim to the DWD on time.

Callahan also mailed a copy of the letter to the OLR. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed.

Callahan graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1998. His license is now suspended for failing to pay dues, to submit a trust-account certification and to complete continuing legal-education requirements. Callahan’s license was also suspended in 2013 for not cooperating with the OLR while it was investigating a grievance related to the September complaint. Follow @erikastrebel