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The Court entered the following order on
this date:
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Attorney William D. Whitnall has filed a
petition for consensual license revocation
pursuant to SCR 22.19(3). Whitnall was
admitted to practice law in 1968 but his
license has been under suspension since
November 22, 1999 and he has not been
reinstated. Disciplinary Proceedings
Against Whitnall, 2000 WI 131, 239 Wis. 2d
721, 619 N.W.2d 926.
The Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) is
currently investigating Whitnall concerning
allegations of misconduct in his
representation of two different clients. In
those matters, the Preliminary Review
Committee has found cause to proceed against
Whitnall with respect to six professional
misconduct rule violations including:
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OLR File No. 99-081110 - failing to act
with reasonable diligence and promptness in
representing a client in violation of SCR
20:1.3; failing to inform a client of an
offer of settlement and to abide by his
client's decision whether to accept an offer
of settlement in violation of SCR 20:1.2(a);
failing to surrender papers and property to
which his client was entitled in violation
of SCR 20:1.16(d).
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OLR File No. 01-091117 - failing to file a
lawsuit or settle a client's claim within
the statute of limitations thereby failing
to act with reasonable diligence and
promptness in representing a client in
violation of SCR 20:1.3; failing to respond
to a client's inquiries regarding the status
of her lawsuit thereby failing to keep a
client reasonably informed about the status
of a matter and to promptly comply with
reasonable requests for information in
violation of SCR 20:1.4(a); and failing to
inform his client of the applicable statute
of limitations so the client could make an
informed decision about retaining other
counsel prior to the expiration of the
statute of limitations period, thereby
failing to explain a matter to the extent
reasonably necessary to permit the client to
make informed decisions regarding the
representation in violation of SCR 20:1.4(b).
In his petition, Attorney Whitnall
acknowledges that he cannot successfully
defend against the pending allegations.
OLR has responded to Whitnall's petition
for consensual license revocation and
recommends that the petition be granted.
Accordingly,
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IT IS ORDERED Attorney William D. Whitnall's
petition for consensual license revocation
is granted and his license to practice law
in this state is revoked as of the date of
this order.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that to the extent
that he has already not done so, William D.
Whitnall must comply with SCR 22.26 relating
to activities following license revocation.
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