Wis. justices revoke repeat offender’s law license

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A West Allis attorney with a lengthy disciplinary history had his license revoked Wednesday by the state Supreme Court.

Donald Hahnfeld, who began his practice in May of 1987, was publicly reprimanded by state justices in 1993 and 2003. He also had his license suspended for 60 days in 2007, and in 2012 saw his license suspended for one year and was ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution for harm caused by his misconduct. His previous offenses included repeat counts of failure to exercise reasonable diligence, failure to return unearned fees and failure to communicate with clients.

His license is now revoked following a disciplinary proceeding that arose from Hahnfeld’s representation of two separate clients and his continued practice of law during a period of suspension.

According to court records, Hahnfeld, among other things, “took $58,000 of his client’s money and produced no benefit for the client. Indeed, he converted $28,000 of his client’s money to his own personal uses without his client’s knowledge. He has therefore demonstrated that he is not currently fit to hold a license to practice law in this state and to represent members of the public in important legal matters.”

In ordering the revocation, Wisconsin justices wrote, “We note that this is the fifth disciplinary proceeding against Attorney Hahnfeld, and that he has now been disciplined for the same types of misconduct on multiple occasions. He has therefore demonstrated that he is unable to conform his conduct to the rules of professional conduct for attorneys in this state.”

Hahnfeld was ordered to pay $32,800 in restitution to a former client and $14,400 to the Wisconsin Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. He also is required to pay the costs of the disciplinary proceeding, which were $26,988.61 as of Aug. 16.