Shorewood attorney pushes for license reinstatement (UPDATE)

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A Shorewood labor attorney twice suspended because of several crimes she committed while addicted to opiates said she has emerged from a “low point” in her life, and wants to practice law again.

Naomi Soldon, of Soldon Law Firm LLC, filed a petition in March asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to allow her to again practice law. A public hearing is set for Nov. 15.

Soldon, who was admitted to the State Bar in 1990, had her law license suspended twice in three years. She was suspended for six months in 2010 after she was arrested several times in 2007 and 2008 on multiple theft charges. During that time, she was convicted of theft and fleeing and eluding an officer; other charges were dismissed.

She was suspended for six months again last year stemming from theft charges in 2007 and 2009, including stealing a candy bar from a Madison store and walking out of an Illinois department store with more than $950 worth of merchandise.

In an interview Thursday afternoon, Soldon, 49, said she was arrested during a period when she battled an opiate addiction. The addiction, she said, arose from a back injury from several years prior.

Soldon said she sought treatment and has been in recovery for nearly four years. She is hopeful that she can again work as an attorney.

“There’s nothing about what’s going on in my life that would prevent me from reinstating it,” Soldon said. “The convictions are there. There’s nothing I can do about it … the addictions that were preventing me from exercising good judgment, and that’s what happened.”

She said she still works at Soldon Law Firm, which is run by her husband and brother-in-law, but only in an administrative role.

According to the State Bar of Wisconsin’s website, Soldon is also suspended because she is behind on her continuing legal education credits, and is behind on paying her dues.

The public hearing will be at 9 a.m. on the Fourth Floor at Urban & Taylor SC, 4701 N. Port Washington Road, Milwaukee.

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