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Court reinstates former Madison attorney after 26 years

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//July 17, 2015//

Court reinstates former Madison attorney after 26 years

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//July 17, 2015//

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has reinstated the license of an attorney who voluntarily asked that his license be revoked 26 years ago because of a long-standing drug abuse problem.

The court on Wednesday reinstated Daniel Linehan’s license under several conditions, including that he continue participating in a mentoring program, consult with an accountant and complete 15 hours of ethics courses over the next year.

Linehan, who used to practice in Madison, had requested the court to reinstate his license on Feb. 28, 2014.

According to Wednesday’s decision, Linehan plans to have a solo practice in Black River Falls. The referee also noted that before 1989, Linehan had a general practice and had more than 100 criminal jury trials and 25 to 30 civil trials.

Linehan petitioned the court in 1989 to revoke his license while he was under investigation by the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility, now the Office of Lawyer Regulation, for mishandling his trust account, including using trust account money for personal expenses and depositing money from a personal loan into his trust account. Long-standing drug abuse contributed to the allegations of misconduct, according to the court’s decision Wednesday.

Linehan stated that he could not get the treatment required to recover while practicing law, and that he sought the suspension of his law license because he was seeking medical treatment.

However, it took more than a decade for Linehan to get his life back together.

The referee in the case found that Linehan had chronic drug and alcohol abuse problems since he was 15 and had received treatment but would relapse.

After his license was suspended, according to court documents, Linehan spent time in jail for a drunken driving conviction and his driver’s license was revoked, according to court documents. In 1998, he was convicted of stealing a vehicle and aggravated drunken driving in Minnesota and put on probation. In 1999, he was charged with forgery of a $3,000 check and sent to prison.

In 2008, Linehan violated his probation and was charged with eight criminal counts for burglarizing his neighbor’s home, stealing their car and credit cards and using those credit cards.

It wasn’t until 2009, when he was sent to Mendota Mental Healthcare Center, according to the referee, that Linehan sought serious treatment for drug abuse.

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