High court to issue decisions in two attorney-discipline cases

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to release decisions in two attorney-discipline cases stemming from misconduct in two neighboring states.

The high court will decide Thursday whether the Illinois attorney John Peiss, who was disbarred in that state in 2015, should also be disciplined in Wisconsin. The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred Peiss for using client money to pay personal expenses and hiding in Madison to evade investigators.

A referee has recommended that the court impose similar discipline and noted that Peiss gave Wisconsin investigators a similar go-around when the Office of Lawyer Regulation attempted to serve its complaint on Peiss.

The justices will also decide on Thursday whether to discipline the Minnesota attorney Adam Gillette for misconduct he had committed in his home state.

The Minnesota Supreme Court suspended Gillette’s license for 60 days in October of last year over misconduct. Among other things, he was accused of mendaciously telling a client that a settlement had been reached in a particular case, even though Gillette had done no work on it and the statute of limitations had expired. The court also called for Gillette to be supervised by a licensed Minnesota attorney for two years.

Gillette has been licensed in Wisconsin since 2009 but has been on an administrative suspension since October 2016 for failing to pay bar dues and failing to report completion of continuing-legal-education requirements.