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State Supreme Court suspends Eau Claire attorney

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//May 21, 2012//

State Supreme Court suspends Eau Claire attorney

By: Jack Zemlicka, [email protected]//May 21, 2012//

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday suspended the law license of Eau Claire attorney Anne Brown for two years.

In the official order, the justices acknowledged a series of medical conditions that limited Brown’s ability to manage her practice starting in 2008, but nonetheless imposed the discipline tied to 10 violations brought by the Office of Lawyer Regulation.

From July 2008 to April 2009, according to the order, Brown used money from the trust account of a divorce client for personal use and also made deposits into the account from her business and personal accounts.

After the divorce case settled, the client asked Brown for nearly $2,000 in insurance money owed, but the attorney told the client she owed an additional $1,700 in legal bills.

In a letter to the OLR, Brown later acknowledged she didn’t have enough money in the account to pay the client, according to the order, because she had not been keeping track.

The OLR alleged Brown used at least $4,636.42 of $4,681.51 held in the client’s trust account for personal use and failed to hold a $3,000 advance fee in trust until earned.

Brown also misused trust account money in two other client matters, starting in 2008, according to the order.

Brown agreed to the two-year suspension imposed by the court. It took effect Friday.

She earned her law license in 1984 and had been privately reprimanded by the court in 2006 and 2007.

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