In September, 1997, a man hired Atty. David C. Bangert, 55, Milwaukee, to represent him in a personal injury case arising from a motor vehicle accident. The client and Atty. Bangert signed a contingent fee agreement. In 2000, Atty. Bangert filed a lawsuit on the client's behalf in Kenosha County Circuit Court.

The client had been separated from his wife since August, 1997, or a month before the accident. The wife had filed for divorce on two occasions in 1997, but she had dismissed both cases due to financial hardship. The couple continues to be married but living apart.

While the client’s personal injury case was pending, the client gave Atty. Bangert permission to talk with the client’s wife about the status of the case. At the wife’s request, in May, 2000, Atty. Bangert wrote a “To Whom It May Concern” letter on her behalf that she could provide to creditors to inform them of the status of her husband’s personal injury case.

The client and his wife agreed that he owed her the sum of $35,000 as a result of loans that she had made to him in the past. While the personal injury case was pending, the wife requested a guarantee that the client would pay her the $35,000 that he owed to her out of the personal injury settlement. In accordance with the client’s instructions, Atty. Bangert prepared a lien in favor of the client’s wife and against the client in the amount of $35,000, to be paid from any proceeds to be derived from a settlement or verdict in the personal injury case. The client signed the lien on April 19, 2001. The lien was also signed by Atty. Bangert. It was Atty. Bangert’s understanding that the lien was for the purpose of securing for the client’s wife the amount of money that she and the client believed he owed to her to resolve property division issues in their divorce proceedings.

On April 20, 2001, Atty. Bangert sent a copy of the signed lien to the client’s wife with a cover letter stating, in part, “Pursuant to our discussions, enclosed please find a copy of the lien that is being filed with the court in the above referenced matter.” The letter referred to the client’s pending personal injury case.

Atty. Bangert told the client’s wife that he would file the lien in the Kenosha County Circuit Court. Atty. Bangert, however, never filed the lien with the court. The wife states that she telephoned Atty. Bangert when she discovered that he had never filed the lien with the court, and Bangert told her that she did not need to worry about filing the lien because he would be the person distributing the settlement proceeds and that he would protect her interest.

The client’s personal injury case settled on May 6, 2002 during mediation. The client agreed to a mediated settlement amount of $75,000. During mediation, Atty. Bangert and the client calculated how the settlement proceeds would break down and included the lien to the wife in the calculations.

The net proceeds to the client remaining from the $75,000 after payment of attorney fees, litigation costs and subrogated medical liens were $45,764.95. The client instructed Atty. Bangert not to honor the lien to the client’s wife and not to send any money to her. The client told Atty. Bangert that the client had been making payments to his wife. The client also told Atty. Bangert that the client needed to use a substantial part of the net settlement proceeds to pay his home mortgage in order to avoid foreclosure. On June 21, 2002, Atty. Bangert distributed all of the net settlement proceeds to the man. Atty. Bangert did not honor the lien to the client’s wife.