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On June 27, 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court
suspended the law license of Brian T.
Stevens, Green Bay, for 60 days, commencing
August 8, 2023. In addition, the Court
ordered Stevens to pay restitution of $4,500
to a third party and the $8,366.07 costs of
the disciplinary proceeding. Disciplinary
Proceedings against Stevens, 2023 WI 56.
Stevens’ misconduct arose out of his
representation of a man, R.K., in a personal
injury claim beginning in 2013. While the
claim was pending, R.K asked an acquaintance,
W.B., to loan him $4,000. R.K. promised to
repay W.B. $4,500 if he received sufficient
funds from his settlement. Stevens prepared a
promissory note that R.K. and W.B. signed in
July 2014, stating “If settlement funds
sufficient to may [sic] repayment are
received, such payment shall be through trust
fund disbursement by Attorney Brian Stevens.”
The claim settled, and Stevens received funds
in payment of the settlement in September
2016. Stevens did not notify W.B. of his
receipt of the funds as required by SCR
20:1.15(e). After making various
disbursements, including to himself for fees
and reimbursement of funds he lent to R.K.
during the representation, Stevens held the
remaining funds in his client trust account,
including the portion belonging to W.B., for
several years.
In April 2018, Stevens withdrew $3,800 from
the trust account to pay his own bills or
expenses, and $700 to refund money to a
client who did not have funds in the account.
This conduct violated SCR 20:1.15(b)(1),
which requires that client funds be held in
trust, and SCR 20:8.4(c), which prohibits
dishonest conduct. In June 2018, Stevens
returned $4,500 to the trust account using
his own funds. Stevens thus violated SCR
20:1.15(b)(3) by co-mingling his own funds in
the trust account.
In January 2020, R.K. filed a grievance.
Stevens, in response to the grievance,
disbursed to R.K. the $4,500 that belonged to
W.B., after making minimal and unsuccessful
efforts to find contact information for W.B.,
in the hope that doing so would "fix things."
W.B. never received any of the funds owed to
her. In the course of investigating the
grievance, OLR determined that Stevens had
not kept complete trust account records as
required by SCR 20:1.15(g).
The court imposed a 60-day suspension,
stating it was “a reasonable next step in the
progressive discipline process, and one that
is readily supported by precedent.” Stevens
has a prior private reprimand imposed in 2020
for lack of diligence and failure to
communicate. Along with orders to pay
restitution and costs, the court ordered
Stevens to comply with several conditions,
including that he attend seven hours of CLE
on trust account and law practice management,
identify a lawyer to monitor his practice for
two years, and furnish quarterly reports to
OLR of activities in his trust account for a
period of two years.
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