West Allis attorney suspended again

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday suspended a chronically disciplined West Allis attorney’s license for one year and ordered $6,000 in reimbursement to the Wisconsin Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection.

During a 60-day suspension in 2007, Donald Hahnfeld, of Hahnfeld Law Office, was hired to pursue a post-judgment paternity matter relating to modification of placement and visitation.

According to the court order, the client paid him $6,000, with $1,000 to be applied to costs, but Hahnfeld never deposited the money into the client’s trust account and didn’t inform the client of a lawyer’s obligation to refund unearned fees upon termination of service.

Hahnfeld also never informed the client of his discipline even after the Office of Lawyer Regulation directed him to terminate his practice while on suspension.

On Jan. 24, 2008, the client learned from a third party that Hahnfeld’s license had been suspended and that same day terminated representation and asked for a full refund, according to the order.

Hahnfeld, who had been disciplined by the court in 1993, 2003 and 2007, never refunded the money and the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection subsequently paid the client $6,000.

As part of the one-year suspension effective April 2, the court ordered Hahnfeld to reimburse the client protection fund $6,000 in addition to $1,109.37 in proceeding costs.