High court suspends Chicago attorney’s license

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended a Chicago attorney’s Wisconsin license over misconduct in an Illinois malpractice case.

Wednesday’s discipline stems from a complaint filed in October by the Office of Lawyer Regulation asking the high court to impose reciprocal discipline on Charles Boyle, 77, for two counts of misconduct involving a legal-malpractice case that led Illinois Supreme Court to suspend his license to practice law in the state.

Boyle reached a $10,000 settlement with his client’s original counsel, took $4,000 in contingency fees and paid out $4,000 to the client, who agreed to let Boyle keep the remaining $2,000 in his trust account in case a third party had a claim to the settlement. Boyle instead used the money for personal expenses, leaving only about $50 in the account.

The justices on Wednesday suspended Boyle’s license for 60 days, imposing discipline identical to that which the Illinois Supreme Court handed down out for the misconduct. Because Boyle reached a stipulation with the OLR and did not require the appointment of a referee and the OLR did not request costs, the justices did not order Boyle to pay any costs.

Boyle graduated from Loyola University’s School of Law in Chicago in 1966. He was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1985. The Wisconsin Supreme Court publicly reprimanded him in September for practicing while his license was suspended. Follow @erikastrebel