Defense attorney Bridget Boyle has license suspended again
For the second time in two years, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended Milwaukee lawyer Bridget Boyle, this time for six months, meaning she will have to reapply for her license to practice law, if the court doesn't hit Boyle with yet another suspension before then.
The referee in a pending discipline matter has recommended an 18 month suspension, a sanction Boyle has argued would "very well contribute to the demise of her realistic ability to practice law." The Supreme Court has not set a date for a decision in that ethics case.
In a decision Thursday, the court noted that Boyle's discipline history and the nature of her rules violations demanded the six month suspension and reapplication, overriding the four-month suspension recommended by the Office of Lawyer Regulation and the referee in her professional discipline case.
"It is imperative that to resume the practice of law in Wisconsin, Attorney Boyle must show this court that she has taken steps to avoid similar misconduct in the future," the court wrote.
In May 2012, the court suspended Boyle for 60 days and ordered she pay about $5,000 in restitution and $11,000 in costs. The suspension followed a February order from the 7the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that banished her from practicing in the federal courts in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.
Thursday's Supreme Court order cited many of the same types of violations that led to Boyle's 2012 suspension -- lack of communication with clients, including about fees; charging an unreasonable fee; and failing to reimburse unearned portions of fees.
The court ordered Boyle to repay a former client in the current disciplinary case $2,500.
The case involved ten counts involving two client matters from 2007 to 2010. In one, Boyle took on a criminal appeal in federal court for $20,000 without detailing what efforts she expected to make in the case. The client later complained that Boyle did not do much of anything on his case, and refused to answer dozens of letters and calls from prison.
In the second case, Boyle accepted $2,500 to appeal a state court conviction for burglary and gun charges, but took no action and refused to return the money when the client's friend asked to end the arrangement a few weeks after hiring Boyle.
According to the court, "The referee also noted that throughout this disciplinary proceeding, Attorney Boyle did not express any remorse over her conduct, was quick to blame her own clients for communication problems, and offered the 'greatly exaggerated' defense that it was too dangerous for her to engage in meaningful written communications with clients in federal prison."
The court further found that Boyle "habitually neglected her duty to communicate with clients, often leaving her clients entirely in the dark. There is no justifiable reason, for example, for a client to have to discover the outcome of an important motion or an appeal from someone other than his or her lawyer, months after the relevant court issued its decision—as C.M. did, twice."
According to the decision, Boyle must also pay nearly $23,000 in costs incurred by the Office of Lawyer Regulation to investigate and try the disciplinary case against her.
In the pending case, a different referee has recommended Boyle return $12,000 in fees she collected in two other client matters. In her brief in that case, Boyle cited a series of ongoing medical issues that affected her law practice in recent years.
Boyle joined the State Bar of Wisconsin in 1995, and practices with father and brother at the firm Boyle, Boyle and Boyle.
The referee in a pending discipline matter has recommended an 18 month suspension, a sanction Boyle has argued would "very well contribute to the demise of her realistic ability to practice law." The Supreme Court has not set a date for a decision in that ethics case.
In a decision Thursday, the court noted that Boyle's discipline history and the nature of her rules violations demanded the six month suspension and reapplication, overriding the four-month suspension recommended by the Office of Lawyer Regulation and the referee in her professional discipline case.
"It is imperative that to resume the practice of law in Wisconsin, Attorney Boyle must show this court that she has taken steps to avoid similar misconduct in the future," the court wrote.
In May 2012, the court suspended Boyle for 60 days and ordered she pay about $5,000 in restitution and $11,000 in costs. The suspension followed a February order from the 7the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that banished her from practicing in the federal courts in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.
Thursday's Supreme Court order cited many of the same types of violations that led to Boyle's 2012 suspension -- lack of communication with clients, including about fees; charging an unreasonable fee; and failing to reimburse unearned portions of fees.
The court ordered Boyle to repay a former client in the current disciplinary case $2,500.
The case involved ten counts involving two client matters from 2007 to 2010. In one, Boyle took on a criminal appeal in federal court for $20,000 without detailing what efforts she expected to make in the case. The client later complained that Boyle did not do much of anything on his case, and refused to answer dozens of letters and calls from prison.
In the second case, Boyle accepted $2,500 to appeal a state court conviction for burglary and gun charges, but took no action and refused to return the money when the client's friend asked to end the arrangement a few weeks after hiring Boyle.
According to the court, "The referee also noted that throughout this disciplinary proceeding, Attorney Boyle did not express any remorse over her conduct, was quick to blame her own clients for communication problems, and offered the 'greatly exaggerated' defense that it was too dangerous for her to engage in meaningful written communications with clients in federal prison."
The court further found that Boyle "habitually neglected her duty to communicate with clients, often leaving her clients entirely in the dark. There is no justifiable reason, for example, for a client to have to discover the outcome of an important motion or an appeal from someone other than his or her lawyer, months after the relevant court issued its decision—as C.M. did, twice."
According to the decision, Boyle must also pay nearly $23,000 in costs incurred by the Office of Lawyer Regulation to investigate and try the disciplinary case against her.
In the pending case, a different referee has recommended Boyle return $12,000 in fees she collected in two other client matters. In her brief in that case, Boyle cited a series of ongoing medical issues that affected her law practice in recent years.
Boyle joined the State Bar of Wisconsin in 1995, and practices with father and brother at the firm Boyle, Boyle and Boyle.
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