OLR wants discipline for California attorney booted out of patent bar

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The Office of Lawyer Regulation is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to discipline a California attorney who has been banned from practicing in at least two other jurisdictions.

According to an OLR complaint and a motion to show cause that were filed on Sept. 12, Carl Schwedler failed to notify the OLR that the U.S. Patent and Trade Office’s lawyer regulation agency had sanctioned him in March for violating the office’s rules of professional conduct. He had been excluded from practicing before the USPTO.

Wisconsin Supreme Court rules require attorneys to report professional discipline from other jurisdictions to the OLR within 20 days of the decision.

Schwedler had been a registered patent attorney since 1993. The discipline from the USPTO stemmed from his representation of a client who had been referred to him by another attorney who was closing down her practice. Schwedler agreed in 2013 to advance the client’s patent for a hand-gun-holster mount, and the client paid him a $1,500 advance fee.

However, Schwedler never took any action on the matter. He never filed the paperwork to indicate he was taking over the client’s patent. Nevertheless, he sent the client an invoice for another $1,500 for responding to the USPTO and continuing to work on the application.

The USPTO deemed the patent abandoned, and the client’s son attempted several times in early 2014 to contact Schwedler because the client was 84 years old and could not hear well.

When Schwedler finally responded, he told the client’s son that he was working on the patent. The son and Schwedler exchanged emails, and Schwedler said the work was progressing. In March 2014, the client hired a different patent attorney.

Schwedler failed to forward the client’s file to the new attorney and failed to refund the unearned advance fee.

The Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline for the USPTO filed a complaint against Schwedler in October 2015. Schwedler took no action, and an administrative-law judge found Schwedler in default in March and excluded him from the patent bar.

The California State Bar also imposed discipline for the misconduct, disbarring him in June.

The OLR is asking the justices to suspend Schwedler’s law license for six months and order him to pay $1,500 in restitution to the client

Schwedler’s Wisconsin license has been suspended since 2009 for failure to pay dues and to report continuing-legal-education requirements. The state Supreme Court has not previously disciplined him. Follow @erikastrebel