State Supreme Court reinstates Madison attorney

Listen to this article

Ten years after his license was revoked by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, attorney Boris Ouchakof has been reinstated.

Ouchakof filed a petition for voluntary revocation in 2002 after the Office of Lawyer Regulation that year filed a complaint charging him with 41 counts of professional misconduct resulting from 14 separate client matters. In addition to the counts charged in the complaint, court records state the OLR was also investigating an additional 12 counts of potential misconduct arising out of another four client grievances.

The misconduct described in the complaint included allegations that while employed by a Madison law firm, Ouchakof secretly charged and personally accepted fees that he did not remit or disclose to his employer. He was also allegedly failed to act with reasonable diligence and promptness, failed to comply promptly with clients’ reasonable requests for information, failed to communicate the basis or rate of his fee, failed to hold in trust property in which another person had an interest, failed to protect his clients’ interests upon the termination of his representation, and did not to cooperate with and provide relevant information to the OLR.

At the time of the 2002 complaint, Ouchakof, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, was on administrative suspension for failing to comply with CLE requirements.

In his petition for voluntary revocation, Ouchakof stated he could not successfully defend the misconduct allegations in the complaint or the misconduct allegations which the OLR was still investigating. The court revoked his license in November 2002.

After receiving treatment for depression, from which he said he was suffering at the time of the events that led to his revocation, Ouchakof filed for reinstatement in December 2011.

Several members of the legal community submitted letters on Ouchakof’s behalf, according to court records, attesting to his character and trustworthiness. Though he is unemployed, Ouchakof for a time worked at Becker Law Offices summarizing medical records, which did not violate any prohibitions of his revocation.

In granting reinstatement, state justices ordered Ouchakof to enter into a one-year agreement with the Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program to monitor his ongoing treatment for depression.

“We impose this condition not as a punishment or sanction on Attorney Ouchakof,” the court wrote, “but rather out of concern for ensuring his successful return to the practice of law, with all of its joys and stresses.”

Ouchakof is required to pay the costs of the reinstatement proceeding, which totaled $1,483.43 as of Dec. 13.