La Crosse attorney suspended for taking insurance money (UPDATE)

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A La Crosse attorney who illegally took insurance money from a client he was representing has been suspended for 90 days.

James Grenisen, 81, who was admitted to the State Bar in 1958, was representing a woman who was challenging her guardianship and placement after being declared incompetent. However, Grenisen was repeatedly admonished by a judge for a series of bizarre actions and motions filed in the case, according to a state Supreme Court opinion released Friday.

The justices upheld the referee’s findings that Grenisen engaged in professional conduct. In addition to the suspension, the court stated that Grenisen must undergo a psychological evaluation and not represent the client in any other cases.

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According to the opinion, Grenisen repeatedly filed motions that were either not timely or not pertinent to the case. When a judge would suggest that new counsel should be appointed for the woman, Grenisen resisted until he was removed from the case.

At one point, he also had the woman sign over a check to him for $3,440 from an insurance claim. He then used the check for personal expenses, and only returned the money after a judge ordered him to and found him in contempt, according to the opinion.

“Although Attorney Grenisen has not previously been disciplined for professional misconduct, his actions in this case were inappropriate and unprofessional,” the opinion reads, adding that “his refusal to comply with the circuit court’s orders not to have further contact with [the client] is troubling.”

Grenisen, in a phone interview Monday, said that the part of the opinion requiring a psychological examination is borderline “libelous.”

He said that many of the issues brought up in the discipline case are addressed in a pending case before the Court of Appeals, though he said he wants to fight the issue to help the damage done to his image in his community.

“I’ve come this far,” Grenisen said. “They can’t do more than what they’ve done to me already for demolishing my reputation.”