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Whitewater attorney faces third public reprimand

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//December 22, 2016//

Whitewater attorney faces third public reprimand

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//December 22, 2016//

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A Whitewater attorney is facing a public reprimand over two counts of alleged misconduct.

According to an Office of Lawyer Regulation complaint filed Dec. 15, John Dade broke two rules in the course of representing a client in two criminal cases in Walworth County.

The OLR alleges that the client had paid Dade a $3,000 advanced fee but that Dade never explained in writing what the scope of the representation would be or what the purpose of the advanced fee was. Both sorts of explanations are required by the state’s rules for attorney conduct. Instead, Dade gave the client a receipt that indicated the fees was for “case evaluation/representation,” according to the complaint.

Also, the OLR alleges that while Dade represented the client, he made disbursements from his trust account to pay himself for work done in the client’s case but never gave his client the required notice before withdrawing the money.

Reached Wednesday, he declined to comment on the complaint and said he would probably represent himself.

Dade’s license is active and in good standing, according to the OLR and State Bar websites.

Dade, who earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1982, has a long history of discipline. The court privately reprimanded him in 1991 and publicly reprimanded him 2007 and 2012. It also suspended Dade’s license for 60 days in 2007 and 2013, and for 90 days in 2014.

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