In the fall of 1987, Attorney Thomas W. Tollaksen was retained by an elderly woman to represent her in a personal injury action involving a slip and fall suffered by the woman in a shopping center parking lot in 1985. On January 8, 1988, Attorney Tollaksen filed a default motion against the present operators of the shopping center, despite notification from those operators that they were not involved with the shopping center at the time of his client's fall.

On January 19, 1988, a hearing was held on Tollaksen's motion for default judgement. At that hearing, Tollaksen represented, in oral argument and by his affidavit, that the medical records attached to his affidavit would support his client's $250,000 damage claim as a result of injuries suffered in the parking lot fall. However, a cursory review of those records would have revealed that they did not support this claim. In fact, the records indicated that the elderly woman's medical problems were related to diabetes, arthritis and gout. No mention was made of injuries suffered as a result of the parking lot fall.

The trial court granted the default motion and awarded $250,000 in damages based solely on Attorney Tollaksen's affidavit. The shopping center operator appealed the default judgement. On January 16, 1990, the Court of Appeals reversed the judgement and also found that Tollaksen had violated Section 802.05, Wis. Stats., by signing the affidavit without making any reasonable inquiry as to whether the medical records supported his client's damage claim. Tollaksen attempted to appeal the matter to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, but was denied review. On February 14, 1991, the trial court entered a judgment against Tollaksen for $25,556 in favor of the shopping center owner. Tollaksen then promptly paid the sanction.

In the course of the Board's investigation, Tollaksen admitted that he had not even read the medical reports before representing to the court that they supported his client's damage claim. Tollaksen said that he relied on his client's assertions that her treating physician told her the medical problems were related to her parking lot fall. However, Tollaksen also admitted that he failed to obtain the opinion of his client's treating physician or the opinion of any other medical expert regarding the relation between her medical problems and the parking lot fall. Moreover, Tollaksen knew his client was an elderly woman who had difficulty in communicating her thoughts.

Following the investigation, the Board concluded that Tollaksen had violated three Rules of Professional Conduct in this matter. In representing to the trial court that the medical records would support his client's damage claims and that he had read those records, Tollaksen made a false statement to a tribunal, in violation of SCR 20:3.3. By failing to review the medical records and in failing to obtain any medical expert opinion regarding the connection between his client's injuries and the parking lot fall, Tollaksen failed to provide competent representation as a result of his inadequate preparation, in violation of SCR 20:1.1. Finally, by offering medical records to prove his client's damage claims, when he had not even read those records or obtained any medical expert opinion, Attorney Tollaksen knowingly advanced a factual position without a basis that was not frivolous, in violation of SCR 20:3.1(a)(2).

In evaluating the appropriate sanction for these violations, the Board balanced the harm of pursuing such frivolous actions on the judicial system and opposing parties against the personal financial and professional loss already suffered by Tollaksen as a result of this matter.

In accordance with SCR 21.09(2), the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility does hereby publicly reprimand Attorney Thomas W. Tollaksen, of Racine.