¶2 Attorney Stubbins was admitted to the practice of law in this state in January 2007. During the time period relevant to the investigations, Attorney Stubbins was employed as an associate attorney with a Milwaukee law firm, where he worked primarily in the areas of defending consumer protection and products liability claims. Attorney Stubbins has not previously been the subject of professional discipline. On October 31, 2013, Attorney Stubbins's license was administratively suspended for failure to pay bar dues and assessments and for failure to submit an annual trust account certification. His license was also subsequently suspended for failure to comply with mandatory continuing legal education reporting requirements. His license has remained administratively suspended up to the date of this opinion.

¶3 The OLR's summary of the pending investigations involving Attorney Stubbins that is attached to the petition for consensual revocation indicates that the OLR has received three grievances regarding four separate client matters. They will be briefly summarized below.

¶4 The first investigation involves E.W., who was a partner in the law firm where Attorney Stubbins worked. E.W. requested that the firm represent him in foreclosing on a land contract for a piece of real property that E.W. and his wife owned. In approximately the spring of 2009, the firm assigned Attorney Stubbins to work on the foreclosure of the land contract.

¶5 After Attorney Stubbins began working on the first foreclosure, E.W. and his wife entered into a second land contract for the property. The buyers under this second contract also defaulted. Consequently, Attorney Stubbins was directed to begin pursuing another foreclosure action against these second buyers.

¶7 The OLR's investigation summary indicates that it is investigating possible violations of SCRs 20:1.3, 20:1.4(a)(3), 20:1.4(a)(4), and 20:8.4(c) in this matter.

¶8 The second and third client representations at issue have been addressed in a consolidated OLR investigation. Both of those matters were brought to the OLR's attention by the former general counsel of the law firm.

¶9 In the second client representation, the law firm represented a company that was a holdover tenant on a commercial lease. The firm assigned Attorney Stubbins to terminate the tenancy, return the keys to the landlord, and assist with the computation of damages connected to rent payments during the holdover period. Attorney Stubbins failed to return the keys to the landlord, which led to the client being held responsible for seven months of double rent charges and the law firm having to make a claim on its malpractice insurance policy. In addition to not doing everything that he was tasked to do, Attorney Stubbins also billed the client for work that he never performed. This ultimately caused the law firm to reduce the client's bill by $11,000.

¶10 In the third client representation, the firm assigned Attorney Stubbins to defend an auto finance company against a claim that the finance company had improperly seized the plaintiff's vehicle and then had sold it at auction.

¶11 During the pretrial phase of the litigation, the plaintiff's counsel served on Attorney Stubbins a notice of deposition for a finance company representative. After the plaintiff's counsel sent a subsequent confirming letter, Attorney Stubbins responded that he had lost the deposition notice and would be unable to appear on the scheduled date. The plaintiff's counsel thereafter scheduled the representative's deposition for three separate subsequent dates. Each time Attorney Stubbins falsely told plaintiff's counsel that the client representative was ill and could not be deposed. On the last occasion, Attorney Stubbins went so far as to claim that the client representative was seriously ill and required kidney dialysis. When the deposition finally took place, the client representative testified that she had been unaware of the previously scheduled dates for her deposition, that she did not have any kidney-related health problems, and that she was not on dialysis.

¶12 Attorney Stubbins also made other misrepresentations to opposing counsel. For example, he told opposing counsel that he would produce certain information in discovery but that he could not do so yet because the client had not yet provided that information to him. The client subsequently acknowledged that it had provided the information at issue to Attorney Stubbins prior to his statement regarding the inability to produce.

¶13 The circuit court denied a summary judgment motion drafted by Attorney Stubbins and granted partial summary judgment as to liability to the plaintiff, leaving only the issue of damages to be tried. Attorney Stubbins failed to advise his client of these rather significant developments in the client's case.

¶14 In addition to filing the partial summary judgment motion, the plaintiff also filed a motion for sanctions against Attorney Stubbins. The circuit court granted the motion, which ultimately resulted in a sanction of $9,600 being paid by Attorney Stubbins personally. Attorney Stubbins also failed to advise his client that he had been sanctioned by the circuit court.

¶16 The OLR states that for the second and third client matters, it is investigating potential violations of SCRs 20:1.3, 20:1.4(a), 20:3.4, 20:4.1(a), 20:8.4 (c), and 20:8.4(f).

¶17 In the final client representation, the law firm represented a defendant in a civil action. A mediation session was scheduled, but Attorney Stubbins failed to advise the client of that fact. He attended the mediation session on the client's behalf without being accompanied by a client representative. The mediation resulted in a written settlement agreement, which Attorney Stubbins signed on the client's behalf even though he had no authority from the client to enter into a settlement agreement. Although Attorney Stubbins had a number of subsequent email communications with the client over the next couple of weeks, he failed to inform the client that the mediation session had occurred and that he had entered into a settlement agreement on behalf of the client. Indeed, Attorney Stubbins led the client to believe that the mediation had not yet occurred.

¶19 The OLR states that potential violations arising out of this matter include violations of SCRs 20:1.2, 20:1.3, 20:1.4(a), 20:4.1(a), 20:8.4(c), and 20:1.16 (a)(2).

¶20 In its recommendation in support of Attorney Stubbins's petition, the OLR acknowledges that Attorney Stubbins has never been disciplined previously, but it emphasizes that Attorney Stubbins repeatedly lied to clients, to opposing counsel, and to members of his own law firm. He also engaged in a course of billing that was misleading and unethical. The OLR also points to two consensual revocation petitions that it contends involved misconduct that was similar or proportionate to the misconduct committed by Attorney Stubbins. See, e.g., In re Disciplinary Proceeding Against Erlandson, 2005 WI 143, 286 Wis. 2d 53, 704 N.W.2d 910 (granting consensual revocation petition involving allegations of ten potential violations); In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Whitnall, 2003 WI 146, 267 Wis. 2d 28, 673 N.W.2d 674 (granting consensual revocation petition involving six potential ethical violations). The OLR asserts that Attorney Stubbins's behavior was a reflection of his character and demonstrates that he is not fit to engage in the practice of law in Wisconsin.

¶22 As noted above, Attorney Stubbins's petition states that he cannot successfully defend himself against the misconduct allegations that have arisen from the OLR's investigations. In the petition Attorney Stubbins asserts that he is freely, voluntarily, and knowingly (1) giving up his right to contest the OLR's allegations of misconduct and (2) asking for the revocation of his license to practice law in this state. He also acknowledges that he has the right to retain counsel in this matter, but states that he has chosen to represent himself. Finally, Attorney Stubbins states that he is aware of the consequences of the revocation of his license, including his obligation to follow the requirements of SCR 22.26 and the need to complete the formal reinstatement process outlined in SCRs 22.29 through 22.33 in the event that he would ever seek the reinstatement of his license.

¶23 After reviewing the petition, the OLR's summary of misconduct allegations under investigation, and the OLR's recommendation, we conclude that the petition should be granted. As shown by the OLR's summary of its investigations, Attorney Stubbins's repeated misrepresentations to his clients, to his law firm, and to opposing counsel; his billing for work that he never performed; his lack of diligence; and his multiple decisions to take legally significant actions (e.g., filing an appeal, settling a lawsuit, etc.) on behalf of his clients without their knowledge or consent demonstrates that Attorney Stubbins does not possess the necessary character to hold a license to practice law in this state. These were not one or two isolated instances, but rather a pattern of deceitful statements and unethical conduct.

¶24 Consistent with the OLR's recommendation, we do not impose any restitution obligation on Attorney Stubbins. While his conduct certainly harmed his clients, there is not a proper basis in this matter for an order requiring him to return money or property that he received from his clients.

¶25 IT IS ORDERED that the petition for consensual license revocation is granted.

¶26 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the license of Joshua F. Stubbins is revoked, effective the date of this order.