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The Court entered the following order on this date:
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Attorney Robert L. Taylor has filed a
petition for consensual license revocation
under SCR 22.19(3). He was admitted to
practice law in Wisconsin in 1979 but his
license was revoked in 1987 and has not been
reinstated.
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The Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) is
currently investigating Attorney Taylor in
four matters, all involving his pre-1987
revocation conduct. One of the matters
involves a 1990 federal criminal conviction
of conspiracy to defraud by misapplying
funds and embezzlement from a federal credit
union. The other three matters involve
Attorney Taylor’s representation of three
clients during a 1985 period during which
his license had been suspended for failure
to comply with continuing legal education
requirements. In addition, OLR is
investigating Attorney Taylor in these three
matters for allegations involving charging
an illegal or clearly excessive fee, neglect
of a legal matter, failure to promptly pay
or deliver to the client funds in the
attorney’s possession to which the client
was entitled, and failure to return unearned
fees. In his petition, Attorney Taylor
acknowledges that he cannot successfully
defend himself against these allegations.
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OLR has responded and recommends that the
petition be granted. Both OLR and Attorney
Taylor request that the revocation be made
retroactive to December 14, 1992, the date
on which Attorney Taylor could have first
sought reinstatement from the 1987
revocation. They submit that it would be
unfair to prospectively revoke Attorney
Taylor’s license for conduct that occurred
over 15 years ago and prior to the 1987
revocation.
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IT IS ORDERED that the petition for
consensual license revocation of Attorney
Robert L. Taylor is granted. Retroactive
revocations are not a typical sanction but
it is appropriate under these unusual
circumstances. The revocation of his
license to practice law in Wisconsin shall
be effective December 14, 1992. To the
extent he has not already done so, Attorney
Taylor must comply with SCR 22.26 relating
to activities following license revocation.
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