Ex-Foley partner faces 2-year suspension

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A former Foley & Lardner partner faces a two-year suspension over allegations that he violated attorney ethics rules.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a complaint June 25 against Adam Wiensch, alleging he committed 13 counts of misconduct while he was a partner with Foley & Lardner and handling an Internal Revenue Service audit of a client’s estate.

Wiensch, who at the time worked in the firm’s trusts and estates practice, had provided estate planning services to a husband and wife who owned a privately owned corporation, preparing a trust for the couple’s children and drafting an agreement for a sale of the husband’s stock to the trust, according to the complaint.

The transaction was intended, among other things, to transfer wealth to the client’s children without any estate or gift taxes. However, the paperwork was missing clauses and documents needed to minimize the risk of the IRS challenging the transaction, according to the OLR.

When the husband died, Wiensch represented his estate, prepared the estate’s tax return and filed it with the IRS. The IRS audited the return in 2012 as well as other gift tax returns filed by the couple before the husband died.

When the wife later died, the agency also audited her estate and gift tax returns.

During the audits, Wiensch lied to the Internal Revenue Service, submitted false documents and powers of attorney to the agency, according to the complaint. The IRS later imposed millions of dollars in penalties and taxes on the estate.

Foley reported Wiensch to the OLR in 2016, telling the agency he was no longer with the firm. Wiensch later admitted to the OLR that he had altered the documents he had sent to the IRS.

The OLR alleges that Wiensch violated attorney ethics rules that prohibit dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; obstructing a party’s access to evidence and unlawfully altering documents; and knowingly making false statements of material fact.

The OLR is also alleging that Wiensch breached the fiduciary duties and duty of honesty he owed to his firm by failing to disclose to Foley that he had drafted false documents and submitted them to the IRS.

The OLR is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to suspend Wiensch’s license for two years.

Wiensch earned his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1991. His license is active and in good standing, according to the State Bar of Wisconsin and OLR websites. He has not previously been publicly disciplined by the high court.

Once the OLR serves Wiensch with the complaint, he will have 20 days to respond. Typically, the justices will appoint a referee to preside over the case and then review that referee’s findings before issuing a final decision in the matter. Follow @erikastrebel