Court suspends Menomonee Falls attorney’s license

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended a Menomonee Falls attorney’s license for using his trust account to avoid paying income taxes.

Tuesday’s discipline stems from a complaint filed by the Office of Lawyer Regulation in October 2014 involving 10 charges of misconduct and alleging that the lawyer, Raymond Clark, would take payment for his work, put it into his trust account and then withdraw the money from that account to pay himself. The OLR alleged that Clark had done that to hide the money from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service.

The OLR had asked the high court to suspend Clark’s license for 15 months.

The OLR and Clark reached a stipulation in which Clark admitted to five of the charges from the complaint and entered no contest pleas to four others. The OLR made a motion during the evidentiary hearing to dismiss the tenth charge.

A court-appointed referee recommended that the justices suspend his license for four months, order Clark to pay for the proceeding and require him to complete six continuing-legal-education credits in trust-account management.

The justices on Tuesday agreed with the referee’s suggestions, noting that Clark has no prior disciplinary history and expressed remorse for his actions. He has practiced in Wisconsin since 1959.

The high court also ordered Clark to pay $16,192.21, the cost of the proceeding. Follow @erikastrebel