Milwaukee attorney faces 60-day suspension over trust-account violations

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A Milwaukee attorney faces a 60-day suspension of his license over five counts of alleged misconduct for mishandling money belonging to clients and third parties.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a complaint Feb. 22 alleging five counts of misconduct stemming from an August 2013 overdraft of Michael Bishop’s trust account. The OLR asked Bishop to provide bank statements, transaction registers and a copy of the client ledger related to a withdrawal of $50, but Bishop failed to respond. It was only after the OLR petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to order Bishop to answer that Bishop responded.

The OLR also found that Bishop deposited $3,000 in bail money into his trust account, although it did not belong there and described it as a deposit for money past due, according to the complaint.

The OLR also alleges that Bishop made 199 cash withdrawals totaling $50,97.82 between May 2, 2013, and July 1, 2015.

The OLR is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to suspend his license for 60 days and for the justices to require that, for Bishop to be reinstated, he must provide the OLR with proof that he has a business account separate from his trust account.

Bishop could not immediately be reached.

Bishop graduated from Marquette University Law School in 1993. His license is in good standing, according to the Wisconsin State Bar and OLR websites.

The Feb. 22 complaint is not Bishop’s first run-in with the OLR. He was publicly reprimanded in January 2014 for several trust-account violations, stemming from allegations that he had commingled money, made improper withdrawals and failed to maintain a transaction register and client ledgers. Follow @erikastrebel