Attorney has CLE suspension prior to murder trial

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A lapse in Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits recently resulted in the suspension of defense attorney Paul D. Polacek, who has several cases pending in Sauk County, including one involving a man charged with murdering his infant twin sons.

Sauk County District Attorney Patricia A. Barrett, who is prosecuting the case against David R. Yates, said both sides agreed to postpone the preliminary hearing date in the case which was scheduled for June 9. A status conference will be held on June 17 to determine whether or not Polacek is cleared to represent Yates. The state courts systems’ online records show Barrett also is prosecuting several other cases defended by Polacek.

On June 17, Barrett said she expects either Polacek, of Polacek & Ames, S.C., in Wisconsin Dells, or another attorney will defend the case.

“I don’t think the judge will allow a case of this magnitude to languish for very long,” said Barrett. “We have had other attorneys lose their licenses during the course of a case, but certainly not as serious a case as this one.”

Attorney Steven J. Sarbacker recently appeared in court on behalf of Yates, and said he would likely step in if Polacek is unable to practice by June 17.

“I may end up doing the preliminary hearing at least, but I haven’t been acting like this is my case or doing any investigative work,” said Sarbacker. “Paul said he would be back in time, and I don’t have any agreement with Mr. Yates.”

Polacek declined to comment on how many credits he lacked, but did take responsibility for the mistake.

“It was an unintentional oversight within our office, but ultimately, I’m responsible,” said Polacek, who added that he has since fulfilled the necessary CLE requirements.

He planned to file a petition for reinstatement with the Board of Bar Examiners (BBE) on June 10, but did not know how long it would take for the agency to process his application.

BBE Director John Kosobucki said the organization is currently reviewing “35 to 40” petitions for reinstatement stemming from CLE lapses and it takes “a couple of days” to verify the accuracy of the request.

If reinstatement is granted, notice is sent to the clerk of the Supreme Court, the State Bar and the attorney, generally the same day as approval of the petition.

Kosobucki also noted that attorneys who failed to file their CLE report by Feb. 1 were sent notice on March 28. There is a $100 cost for reinstatement, and an additional $50 assessment for failing to file a CLE report by Feb. 1.

“Notices went out saying that attorneys had until close of business on May 27 to get into compliance, or they (would) automatically be suspended the following day,” said Kosobucki.

Polacek declined to say when he received notification about the suspension, but Barrett said he did appear at a bail hearing in April for Yates. She became aware of the suspension after the BBE circulated a list to Judge James Evenson, who is presiding over the Yates case.

Evenson declined to comment, because the case is still pending in his court.