Not quite a Hollywood ending

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Having sifted through more than a few disciplinary rulings handed down by the state Supreme Court, many contain tales of fraud, deceit or criminal behavior.

But the court’s Jan. 7 decision to deny reinstatement to attorney Jimmie G. Davison reads like something that might be floated around in Hollywood. (Link)

The Milwaukee attorney began practicing in 1975, but spent a dozen years in prison for sexually assaulting his 11-year old stepdaughter. His law license was revoked in 1993.

Four years later, while incarcerated, Davison pled guilty to aggravated battery of his wife during a prison visit. Additional charges contributed to a 16-year prison sentence, consecutive to the term he was already serving.

Nevertheless, Davison applied for reinstatement in 2007 – a motion which the Office of Lawyer Regulation opposed – but not solely for his recent criminal indiscretions.

The OLR noted that Davison had been convicted of burglary when he was 18 and in 1959 was convicted of sexual assault and served three-and-a-half years of a 30-year sentence.

Davison, now 73 and blind, was not without supporters. Prior to a hearing in 2008, the Board of Bar Examiners recommended Davison's reinstatement “subject to his compliance with current continuing legal education requirements.”

If reinstated, Davison indicated that he planned to advocate for the rights of blind and disabled people and lobby the Legislature on disability rights issues.

In its ruling, the court called the goals “laudable”, but noted, “time after time he has failed to live up to the chances he has been given.”

This seems a timely ruling in light of a petition being discussed by bar leaders which would give the court authority to permanently revoke an attorney’s license in Wisconsin.