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Disciplinary proceeding against William H.
Green
On June 27, 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court
suspended the law license of William H.
Green, Brown Deer, for two years, commencing
the date of the order. In addition, the Court
ordered Green to pay restitution to two
clients for unearned fees he failed to
refund, to comply with two bankruptcy court
fee disgorgement orders, and to pay the $707
costs of the disciplinary proceeding.
Disciplinary Proceedings against Green,
2023 WI 55.
Green failed to participate in the
disciplinary proceeding. He was declared in
default. The allegations of the complaint
were thus deemed established and the 24
counts of misconduct proven. Green’s
misconduct occurred across his representation
of six clients. In four of the cases, which
were bankruptcy petitions, Green neglected
the cases. He also failed to communicate with
several of the clients and did not respond to
various court orders, including two orders to
disgorge fees. The other two representations
involved a step-parent adoption/termination
of parental rights, and a divorce and
juvenile case. Green accepted $4,000 in fees
for the step-parent adoption but did no work
in the case and did not respond to the
client’s telephone inquiries. The Court
ordered Green to make restitution of the
$4,000. For the divorce and juvenile case,
Green withdrew soon after taking on the
representation but failed to return the
client’s file.
In all of the matters underlying the
disciplinary proceeding, Green failed to
respond to OLR, resulting in the automatic
suspension of his license to practice law for
failure to cooperate, which continued through
the entry of the suspension order. The court
determined a two-year license suspension
appropriate “to impress on Attorney Green the
seriousness of his extensive misconduct and
deter other attorneys from engaging in
similar misconduct in the future.” Green’s
prior discipline consisted of a 2014 private
reprimand for similar misconduct of neglect,
failure to communicate and mishandling of
fees in a bankruptcy, and a 2016 public
reprimand for three client matters involving
incompetence, lack of diligence, and failure
to comply with trust account rules.
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