OLR: Oshkosh attorney’s license suspended again following third disciplinary hearing

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After a third disciplinary hearing in five years, the Office of Lawyer Regulation and Wisconsin Supreme Court have suspended an Oshkosh attorney’s license for one year.

The one-year suspension handed down Wednesday marks the fifth license suspension for Melinda Alfredson. Her license was suspended in 2017 for 60 days following 16 counts of misconduct allegations. Alfredson was again suspended in 2019 for 90 days after committing six counts of misconduct in her representation of two clients.

The OLR filed a complaint last June alleging seven counts of misconduct in Alfredson’s representation of a client, L.P. Alfredson was retained by L.P. in April 2018 for legal matters concerning her son, J.P., and filing a suit against his employer.

Alfredson failed to notify L.P. that her license was suspended from May 2018 to November 2018 because of noncompliance with mandatory CLE requirements, and of the 2019 90-day suspension for an unrelated matter. During these periods, Alfredson continued to provide legal services to L.P., including stating she had filed a suit against J.P.’s  employer in small-claims court and scheduled a hearing. Alfredson never filed the suit, misleading L.P. and J.P.

In June 2020, Alfredson’s license was suspended again for noncompliance with 2018-2019 CLE requirements, for which it still remains suspended.

After the OLR complaint, it appeared the matter would be resolved with stipulations, but Alfredson failed to sign and returned the proposed stipulation in a timely manner. Sue Bischel was appointed referee and ultimately imposed a default judgement on Alfredson after warning the attorney to return an extension motion for filing an answer. Alfredson’s motion was denied after she failed to provide a timely answer with supporting affidavit for more than six months.

In addition to the one year suspension, Alfredson has been ordered to pay $250 in restitution to her former client and the full costs of the court proceedings, which totaled $2,552.11 by March 14. The attorney has 60 days to remit payment to both the OLR and L.P.