Court revokes Whitefish Bay attorney’s license for ‘seriousness of misconduct’

Listen to this article

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has granted the Whitefish Bay attorney Theodore Mazza’s petition for consensual license revocation, citing the need to establish the seriousness of his misconduct.

The opinion released on Tuesday came in response to Mazza’s filing a petition for voluntary revocation of his license to practice law. In 2019, the OLR had asked the high court to revoke his license for 13 alleged attorney-ethics violations, including neglecting his clients, taking their money for himself and lying to OLR investigators about his behavior. The agency also sought restitution on behalf of two clients.

The OLR also has three additional pending grievance matters against him. The investigations stem from his representation of two clients in divorce cases and his service as treasurer for the Saint Vincent de Paul Conference – Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, a nonprofit organization affiliated to Mazza’s church. The OLR is investigating allegations that Mazza converted at least $9,500 of the conference’s funds for his own use or the use of other clients and tried to hide what he was doing.

After reviewing the complaint and the summary of the additional grievances under investigation, the justices said they accepted Mazza’s petition for consensual license revocation.

“The seriousness of his misconduct demonstrates the need to revoke his law license to protect the public, the courts, and the legal system from the repetition of misconduct; to impress upon Attorney Mazza the seriousness of his misconduct; and to deter other attorneys from engaging in similar misconduct,” the opinion said.

The state Supreme Court also ordered him to pay $19,601.97 in restitution to the two clients involved in the 2019 complaint and $3,250 to one of the divorce clients from the pending grievance investigations.

Mazza was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1965. In 1978, his law license was indefinitely suspended, allowing him leave to apply for reinstatement after one year, for misusing client funds and neglecting legal matters.

The high court also revoked his license in 1984 over his conviction on a criminal charge of conspiracy to commit theft as a party to the crime, in part because of an alcohol addiction. The court reinstated his license in 2002.

On Tuesday, Mazza said he hadn’t seen the state Supreme Court’s decision in his case, and he did not want to comment on it. Follow @WLJReporter