Milwaukee attorney wants disciplinary charges over ineffective assistance of counsel dismissed

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A Milwaukee criminal defense lawyer is fighting charges that he broke lawyer ethics rules while representing a defendant in a post-conviction appeal.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation charged Christopher Hartley of Hartley & Pecora in June with one count of failing to represent a client diligently and promptly.

The alleged misconduct stems from Hartley’s representation of a Waukesha County criminal defendant whose convictions were later overturned because of ineffective assistance of counsel by both his trial and appellate lawyers.

The OLR alleges, among other things, that Hartley took too long to file the defendant’s appeal after his law partner had told the court he would be taking over the case. It also alleges that Hartley knew that the defendant’s trial counsel, Perry Lieuallen, had failed to interview more than 20 witnesses who would have refuted testimony adverse to the client. Hartley, though, only argued that Lieuallen had failed to interview six of them. The OLR also filed disciplinary charges against Lieuallen.

The OLR is asking that the Wisconsin Supreme Court publicly reprimand Hartley.

A public reprimand does not involve a license suspension, but the OLR makes the court’s disciplinary decision available to the public and sends the decision to the lawyer’s hometown newspaper.

Hartley, who is representing himself, filed an answer to the OLR’s complaint on Aug. 17, admitting to some of the OLR’s allegations but also denying some of them. Among the things he denied were allegations that he had broken the rule of attorney professional conduct requiring lawyers to represent clients diligently and promptly. He is asking the court to dismiss the complaint.

The court has appointed Jim Mohr to be the referee in the case. After a hearing, Mohr will issue a report including a recommendation for discipline. The Wisconsin Supreme Court will review Mohr’s findings and issue a final decision in the matter.

Hartley, who graduated from Drake University Law School in 1996, has been licensed in Wisconsin since 1997. His license is active and in good standing, according to the OLR and State Bar websites.

This is not Hartley’s first run-in with the OLR. The high court privately reprimanded him in 2009 and 2007. Like a public reprimand, a private reprimand does not involve a license suspension. But unlike a public reprimand, a private reprimand leads only to the OLR’s publishing a summary of the court’s decision not identifying the lawyer who has been disciplined. Follow @erikastrebel