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In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Konnor3/25/2005
public members. Before a complaint is filed against a lawyer, an independent panel composed of lawyers and public members must find probable cause to proceed against the lawyer. If a complaint is dismissed, the complainant can get a review of the dismissal. If a complaint is filed, a referee determines the facts and whether violations have occurred, and recommends discipline. The Supreme Court ultimately establishes the facts, the violation, and the discipline.
. The lawyer regulatory system is presently totally funded by annual assessments on the lawyers licensed to practice in the state, not by the state. For fiscal year July 2004-June 2005, each member of the bar was assessed $132.00. An individual lawyer who is subject to a disciplinary proceeding, a medical incapacity proceeding, or a reinstatement proceeding may be ordered to pay all or part of the costs of his or her proceeding, thus reducing the total operating expenses of the lawyer regulatory system and the assessment on each member of the state bar.
. Since 1970, two types of expenditures have been present in the lawyer regulatory system: (1) general administrative expenses, and (2) costs of proceedings against a particular lawyer. The state and the members of the state bar have, over the years, provided financial support for the general administrative expenses of the lawyer regulatory system since 1970. Costs of a proceeding against an individual lawyer during this period could be levied against that lawyer.
. In 1970 the state paid all the expenses incurred by the Board of Bar Commissioners, the administrative entity governing the lawyer regulatory system. The state's expenditures for the system were reduced to the extent that the costs of formal proceedings against an individual attorney were recovered from the attorney involved in the proceedings.
. In 1976, when the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility (BAPR) replaced the Board of Bar Commissioners, only the expenses of formal proceedings were paid by the state. The general expenses of administering the lawyer regulatory system were imposed on the members of the state bar. Costs were apparently still levied against individual lawyers.
. In 1981-82 the members of the state bar became responsible for funding in full the lawyer regulatory system. The Joint Finance Committee of the State Legislature eliminated state funding for the lawyer regulatory system and imposed the expenses of the system on members of the state bar. Continuing past practice, the Supreme Court permitted BAPR to collect from an individual attorney the costs incurred in his or her disciplinary proceeding, reinstatement proceeding, or moral character investigation.
. Thus, since at least 1970, Wisconsin has authorized levying on an individual attorney all or a portion of the costs incurred in that attorney's disciplinary proceedings.
. Similarly, the present supreme court rules provide for the levying of all or a portion of the costs on the individual lawyer in any proceeding in which misconduct is found, in which medical incapacity is found, and in which reinstatement is granted or denied after license suspension.
. Costs in individual discipline, medical incapacity, and reinstatement proceedings are defined in the rules as follows:
· Compensation and necessary expenses of referees;
· Fees and expenses of counsel for the Office of Lawyer Regulation;
· Reasonable disbursements for service of papers;
· Amounts actually expended for certified copies of public records, postage, telephone, adverse examinations and depositions, witness fees and expenses, compe
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