Milwaukee lawyer faces license revocation

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A Milwaukee lawyer faces the revocation of his law license over 38 alleged ethics violations.

According to an Office of Lawyer Regulation complaint filed March 13, the misconduct stemmed from James Goldmann’s dealings with 10 clients in criminal and civil cases.

The allegations in the 33-page complaint include that Goldmann lied to clients about filing documents in their cases, lied to a court about contacting a Native American tribal council in a termination of parental rights case and abandoned his solo law practice in May or June 2017 without telling his clients. Goldman now resides in Calgary, Canada, according to the OLR.

In one case, a woman hired him in January 2017 to represent her in a parental rights case, and she paid a $1,500 advanced fee for him to file two petitions and set up a mediation session. The OLR alleges Goldmann did not work on the case and did not respond to the client’s attempts to obtain her file and a refund for the advanced fee.

The client sued him in Milwaukee County to recover the fee. Goldmann failed to appear in court, and the court entered a default judgment against him for $1,653 in August.

The agency also alleges Goldmann, during the nine months he worked for Menomonee Falls-based Sterling Law Offices as an associate in 2015, approved misleading online advertising about his experience, including that he had an 80 percent acquittal rate and had “85+ acquittals by jury since 2009.”

The OLR is asking that the Wisconsin Supreme Court to revoke Goldmann’s license, meaning he would be indefinitely barred from practicing law but could petition the court for reinstatement after five years.

The OLR is also asking that the court order Goldman to pay the $1,653 default judgment.

Goldmann has 21 days to respond to the OLR’s complaint.

Goldmann earned his law degree from Washington, D.C.-based Columbus School of Law in 2008, moved to Wisconsin in 2013 and was admitted to the bar that year as well. His license has been administratively suspended for failing to pay bar dues and failing to file a trust account certification, according to the State Bar of Wisconsin website. The court also temporarily suspended his license in July for failing to cooperate with the OLR. Follow @erikastrebel