Attorney Disciplinary Proceedings

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WI Supreme Court

Case Name: Office of Lawyer Regulation v. George W. Curtis, Jr.,

Case No.: 2018 WI 13

Focus:  Attorney Disciplinary Proceedings

We review the report of the referee, Richard M. Esenberg, regarding the Office of Lawyer Regulation’s (OLR) complaint in this matter against Attorney George W. Curtis, Jr. At all times relevant to this matter, Attorney Curtis operated the Curtis Law Office in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (hereafter, the “firm”), as a sole proprietorship. The referee recommended that Attorney Curtis be suspended for 120 days in connection with his willful failure to pay his personal income taxes for several years and for various trust account violations committed at his firm. The referee recommended the dismissal of three counts of misconduct: one related to his trust account record keeping, another related to his failure to remit employee and employer contributions to his law firm’s 401(k) plan, and another related to his failure to remit payroll taxes for his firm’s employees. The referee proposed that the court place certain conditions on Attorney Curtis’ post-suspension practice of law, and that the court reduce the full costs of this proceeding ($16,886.87 as of October 31, 2017) by one-quarter. The OLR did not seek the payment of restitution in these proceedings, and the referee did not recommend it.

Because no appeal has been filed, we review the referee’s report pursuant to Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 22.17(2). After conducting our independent review of the matter, we adopt the referee’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. We agree with the referee that Attorney Curtis’ license to practice law in Wisconsin should be suspended for a four-month period. We also agree with the referee that Attorney Curtis should be required to pay three-quarters of the costs of this proceeding, which will result in a cost assessment of $12,665.15. We impose certain conditions upon the reinstatement of Attorney Curtis’ license to practice law in Wisconsin. Finally, we decline to order restitution for reasons explained below.

Affirmed

Concur:

Dissent:

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.