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ATTORNEY disciplinary
proceeding. Attorney's license revoked.
¶1 PER CURIAM. Attorney Michael M.
Switalski has filed a petition for
consensual license revocation under Supreme
Court Rule (SCR) 22.19.
¶2 Attorney Switalski was admitted to
practice law in Wisconsin in 1988. His
member status with the State Bar of
Wisconsin is inactive and he is not
currently engaged in the practice of law in
Wisconsin. Attorney Switalski was
previously a school teacher and coach at
Newman Catholic High School in Wausau.
¶3 In March 2015, Attorney Switalski
entered guilty pleas to ten felony counts of
child pornography. An additional 22 counts
were dismissed but read in for sentencing
purposes. In June 2015, Attorney Switalski
was sentenced to ten three-year prison
terms, to be served concurrently, each
followed by five years of extended
supervision. Attorney Switalski is
currently in prison.
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¶4 Attorney Switalski's petition for
consensual license revocation states that he
is currently the subject of an Office of
Lawyer Regulation (OLR) inquiry involving
his possession of child pornography.
Attorney Switalski states that he cannot
successfully defend himself against the
professional misconduct alleged by the OLR.
He states that he is filing his petition
freely, voluntarily, and knowingly, and
understands that he is giving up his right
to contest the misconduct alleged by the
OLR. He also states that he is represented
by counsel in this proceeding.
¶5 The OLR has filed a recommendation
on Attorney Switalski's petition, saying
that revocation of his license to practice
law in Wisconsin is warranted. The OLR
notes that there is precedent for the
proposition that an attorney's serious
criminal conduct merits revocation of his
license to practice law in Wisconsin, even
when the misconduct is not directly related
to the attorney's practice of law. See,
e.g., In re Disciplinary Proceedings
Against Engl, 2013 WI 36, 347 Wis. 2d 104,
829 N.W.2d 512. The OLR says that
consensual revocation is appropriate in this
case and is consistent with past precedent.
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¶6 We agree that revocation of Attorney
Switalski's license to practice law in
Wisconsin is warranted. Attorney Switalski
pled guilty to multiple counts of possession
of child pornography. SCR 20:8.4(b)
provides that it is professional misconduct
for a lawyer to "commit a criminal act that
reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty,
trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in
other respects." Attorney Switalski has
acknowledged that he cannot successfully
defend himself against the misconduct
allegations. Accordingly, we grant the
petition and revoke his license to practice
law in Wisconsin.
¶7 IT IS ORDERED that the license of
Michael M. Switalski to practice law in
Wisconsin is revoked, effective the date of
this order.
¶8 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, to the
extent he has not already done so, Michael
M. Switalski shall comply with the
provisions of SCR 22.26 concerning the
duties of an attorney whose license to
practice law has been revoked.
¶9 ANN WALSH BRADLEY, J., and REBECCA
G. BRADLEY, J., did not participate.
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