High court publicly reprimands Madison lawyer

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has publicly reprimanded a Madison lawyer and ordered her to pay $5,000 in restitution to a client.

The discipline stems from an Office of Lawyer Regulation complaint filed in October against Sarah Clemment of the Madison-based firm Clemment Law Office.

The OLR alleged that Clemment had broken six attorney-ethics rules while representing a criminal defendant in a  homicide case in Dane County. The judge in the case tossed Clemment from the case, calling her “grossly incompetent,” according to the complaint.

Moreover, Clemment failed to return the $5,000 flat fee the defendant had paid for her to represent him and failed to send him the paperwork required when a lawyer withdraws from representing a client.

The OLR had asked that the high court publicly reprimand Clemment and order her to pay back her client.

Clemment never filed an answer to the OLR’s complaint, so the referee in the case, Nick Schweitzer, found her in default and adopted the OLR’s allegations as his findings of fact. Schweitzer also recommended that the high court adopt the OLR’s request for a public reprimand and restitution.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed on June 15 with Schweitzer in a per curiam decision. The justices noted that although the court has a policy of progressive discipline, another public reprimand was appropriate because Clemment had been reprimanded seven years ago.

The public reprimand means Clemment can still practice law. However, the court’s decision will be publicly available and a copy will be sent to Clemment’s hometown newspaper. Follow @natebeck9