¶2 Attorney Stokes was licensed to practice law in Wisconsin on October 17, 1978. In May 1982 Attorney Stokes was privately reprimanded for improperly discussing a client's legal matter in the context of another client matter. In 1995 he was publicly reprimanded for failing to provide competent and diligent representation of a client and for failing to communicate with a client in a criminal appeal matter. In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Stokes, 190 Wis. 2d 480, 526 N.W.2d 507 (1995). Attorney Stokes' license to practice law in Wisconsin was summarily suspended pursuant to SCR 22.20(1) by this court on September 27, 2011, due to Attorney Stokes' criminal conviction as more fully described below. His license is currently suspended.

¶3 On October 6, 2010, Attorney Stokes was charged in Dane County circuit court with the commission of two felonies. State v. Stokes, Dane County Circuit Court Case No. 2010CF1663. He was charged with felony theft, contrary to Wis. Stat. § 943.20(1)(d) and (3)(c), for billing the Wisconsin State Public Defender's Office (SPD) for 691 hours of work which he did not perform, consisting of 628 fraudulent billing entries in more than 40 client matters over a nearly four- year period, and for which he received more than $19,600. He was also charged with perjury, contrary to Wis. Stat. § 946.31(1) (c), for allegedly giving false testimony under oath before the judge in the John Doe proceeding investigating Attorney Stokes' SPD billings.

¶6 Meanwhile, in addition to the OLR complaint, Attorney Stokes was also under investigation by the OLR for five additional grievances. On or about December 21, 2011, Attorney Stokes filed a petition for revocation by consent, together with an appendix detailing the alleged misconduct, in which he admitted he could not successfully defend against the allegations of misconduct reflected by the grievances. The OLR filed a response in support of the petition for revocation by consent on the same day.

¶7 Two of the pending grievances were filed by Brian Locke and relate to Mr. Locke's claims of fraudulent billing, allegations that Attorney Stokes committed perjury and falsified evidence during the John Doe proceeding, and allegations that Attorney Stokes refused to answer discovery requests and lied to the court in Mr. Locke's malpractice action against Attorney Stokes.

¶8 The third grievance was filed by Attorney Deborah Smith, director of the assigned counsel division of the SPD, relating to fraudulent billing and echoing the claims stated in the Locke grievance.

¶9 The fourth grievance was filed by the U.S. Trustee, who provided numerous examples of Attorney Stokes' incompetence as an attorney practicing before the Western District of Wisconsin Bankruptcy Court.

¶10 The fifth and final grievance was filed by a former client, S.M., who contended that Attorney Stokes failed to properly represent her in a foreclosure action and improperly deposited her advanced fees in his business account.

¶12 The referee filed her report on March 6, 2012. With respect to the OLR complaint, the referee found that by fraudulently billing the SPD for work he did not perform and by accepting more than $19,600 from the SPD for that work, resulting in a felony theft conviction under Wis. Stat. § 943.20(1)(d) and (3)(c), Attorney Stokes violated SCR 20:8.4(b).

¶14 The referee recommended that the court leave the issue of restitution open with regard to Attorney Stokes' clients in the bankruptcy matters in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. On March 26, 2012, after the referee filed her report, the OLR filed a document addressing the issue of restitution. The OLR asked the court not to adopt the recommendation regarding restitution to the bankruptcy clients, explaining that the bankruptcy court has examined the circumstances, ordered refunds in several cases, and has verified that Attorney Stokes complied with those orders for refunds.

¶16 When reviewing a report and recommendation in an attorney disciplinary proceeding, we affirm a referee's findings of fact unless they are found to be clearly erroneous. In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Inglimo, 2007 WI 126, ¶5, 305 Wis. 2d 71, 740 N.W.2d 125. We review the referee's conclusions of law, however, on a de novo basis. Id. We determine the appropriate level of discipline given the particular facts of each case, independent of the referee's recommendation, but benefiting from it. See In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Widule, 2003 WI 34, ¶44, 261 Wis. 2d 45, 660 N.W.2d 686.

¶17 Upon consideration of the entire record, we accept the referee's findings of fact and agree that the facts support the legal conclusion that Attorney Stokes engaged in the professional misconduct alleged in the OLR's complaint filed on November 2, 2011. We also agree with the referee's recommendation that we accept Attorney Stokes' petition for consensual license revocation.

¶18 Attorney Stokes' professional misconduct warrants the severest level of discipline that we impose, namely, the revocation of his license to practice law in Wisconsin. We concur with the referee, who noted:

¶19 With respect to the remaining questions regarding restitution, we decline to hold the matter of restitution open with respect to the bankruptcy cases, and we decline to grant the OLR's belated request to order Attorney Stokes to pay $200 in restitution to S.M. Finally, we further determine that Attorney Stokes should be required to pay the full costs of this proceeding. SCR 22.24(1m).

¶20 IT IS ORDERED that the license of David G. Stokes to practice law in Wisconsin is revoked, effective the date of this order.

¶21 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within 180 days of the date of this order, David G. Stokes shall pay to the Office of Lawyer Regulation the costs of this proceeding.