Verona family law attorney gets additional suspension

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Wisconsin justices on Tuesday added an additional suspension for a Verona family law attorney who said he has dealt with mental health issues.

Andrew Bryant’s license has been suspended since 2012 for failing to cooperate with an Office of Lawyer Regulation investigation. According to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s per curiam decision, in which it suspended his license an additional four months, Bryant committed 15 counts of misconduct while representing three clients. He also practiced law while his license was suspended in 2010.

Bryant did not perform duties as requested or in a timely manner when representing a couple who was jointly filing for divorce, according to the opinion. When another attorney took on the case, Bryant sent a $331 check to the clients as a refund, though the client refused the offer.

In another case, Bryant failed to comply with a judge’s scheduling order and deadlines, according to the opinion. This resulted in sanctions, which Bryant and his client did not pay. And in another divorce proceeding, a judge labeled Bryant’s statements in the case “misleading,” “not truthful” and “undertaken for the purpose of delay.”

In addition to the suspension, the court ordered Bryant to pay $1,500 in restitution.

According to the opinion, Bryant stipulated to the misconduct charges and also told a referee that he was seeking help for mental health problems. The court ordered Bryant to have a mental health evaluation, give it to the OLR and allow the OLR to review his medical and mental health records for three years.

Bryant graduated from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minn. He was admitted to the Wisconsin State Bar in 1992. He was privately reprimanded in 2012 for misconduct in a post-divorce proceeding.

He could not immediately be reached for comment.

Richard Cayo, of Halling & Cayo SC, Milwaukee, whose firm represented Bryant for a short time in disciplinary matters, said Bryant was “a decent person who had some trouble to deal with.”

The referee noted in her report that Bryant’s actions were “a blip on an otherwise healthy career,” and asked for his employment information to get a perspective on why the problems were starting to happen, according to the opinion. She noted that “Attorney Bryant’s ongoing failure over several months to respond to any of her requests for the employment information had bewildered her and had led her to believe that whatever problems had precipitated the misconduct had not been resolved.”

After filing the report, though, the referee received a letter from one of Bryant’s health care providers, according to the opinion. She asked the court to order Bryant to participate in the Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program, though the justices declined.

“We share the referee’s concern that something appears to have changed in Attorney Bryant’s practice of law that led him into running afoul of the Rules of Professional Conduct after years of properly practicing law,” according to the opinion. “We were particularly concerned by the letter submitted by Attorney Bryant’s health care provider which stated that in 2012 Attorney Bryant was incapable of participating in disciplinary proceedings or even responding to OLR’s investigatory requests. Attorney Bryant through his counsel, however, has stated that his health has improved.”

Justice Pat Roggensack wrote a brief concurring opinion, saying she agreed with the rest of the justices on each issue except requiring Bryant to let the OLR view his medical records.

The OLR is pursuing another case against Bryant. According to an amended complaint filed Jan. 24, Bryant is facing 38 charges based on similar actions. In one case, he is accused of mishandling client money and paying himself without his client’s permission.

The OLR in that case is asking the state Supreme Court to suspend Bryant for three years. If that discipline is imposed, Bryant would have to petition the court to have his license reinstated.