High court to release decision on ex-Trempealeau County attorney

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to release a decision Wednesday on whether to let a former Trempealeau County bankruptcy attorney practice law again in the state.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended David Moss’s license in 2014 for two years over 35 counts of misconduct that occurred from 2011 to 2012, when he had a law office in Galesville.

According to the OLR’s allegations, which were filed in 2013, Moss, who now lives in Washington state, ignored clients for months and did not refund money clients paid to him for services they didn’t receive. Moss never responded to the charges and mailed in his State Bar membership card to resign his license. Although a referee had approved the 9-month suspension that the OLR asked for, the high court more than doubled that, calling the recommendation “insufficient.”

Moss filed a petition for reinstatement last year, and a public hearing was held on the matter in April. The referee in the case, James Boll, recommended in May that Moss’s license be reinstated, noting that Moss had successfully sought treatment for the bipolar disorder that contributed to the misconduct and has since been pursuing certification as a profession horticulturist.

However, Boll recommended that Moss be reinstated with certain conditions, including that Moss continue the counseling, treatment and medication he is taking to manage his bipolar disorder, provide the OLR with quarterly reports from his doctor and therapist and pay the cost of the reinstatement proceedings.

At the hearing, Moss said that if his license were reinstated, he planned to practice immigration law in Seattle and might return to Wisconsin to practice law in Green Bay.

Moss is being represented in the case by Stacie Rosenzweig of Halling & Cayo, Milwaukee, and the OLR is being represented by Gregg Herman of Loeb & Herman, Milwaukee, and William Weigel. Follow @erikastrebel