Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Pleas (In re Pleas)

Citation401 Wis.2d 392,973 N.W.2d 446,2022 WI 29
Decision Date10 May 2022
Docket Number2020AP724-D
Parties In the MATTER OF DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST Coral Dawn PLEAS, Attorney at Law: Office of Lawyer Regulation, Complainant, v. Coral Dawn Pleas, Respondent.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Wisconsin

ATTORNEY disciplinary proceeding. Reinstatement granted.

PER CURIAM.

¶1 The court has before it the parties’ joint stipulation for Attorney Coral Dawn Pleas’ reinstatement of her license to practice law in Wisconsin.

¶2 Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 22.30(5)(b), the court may consider a reinstatement petition by stipulation when, as here, the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) concludes after investigation that the petitioner has demonstrated, to the OLR's director's satisfaction, that all of the reinstatement criteria have been met. See SCR 22.3051 and SCR 22.29.2 The court then considers the petition and stipulation without the appointment of a referee. SCR 22.30(5)(b). The court may approve the stipulation and reinstate the petitioner's law license, or reject the stipulation and refer the petition to a referee for a hearing, or direct the parties to consider modifications to the stipulation. Id.

¶3 Upon consideration of Attorney Pleas’ reinstatement petition, the OLR's response pursuant to SCR 22.30(4), the parties’ stipulation pursuant to SCR 22.30(5)(a), and the OLR's memorandum in support of the stipulation pursuant to SCR 22.30(5)(a), we conclude that reinstatement is appropriate.

¶4 Attorney Pleas was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1993. On September 29, 2020, based on a stipulation between Attorney Pleas and the OLR, this court suspended Attorney Pleas’ Wisconsin law license for six months for misconduct arising out of her representation of a client, V.B., regarding two automobile accidents that injured V.B. See In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Pleas, 2020 WI 77, 394 Wis. 2d 6, 948 N.W.2d 901. The court determined that, during her representation of V.B. regarding the first automobile accident, Attorney Pleas committed misconduct by failing to promptly notify V.B. and V.B.’s health insurer of her receipt of $25,000 in settlement funds; failing to promptly deliver to V.B. and V.B.’s health insurer the funds to which they were entitled; failing to hold the settlement funds in trust; making disbursements from her trust account via internet banking transactions; failing to provide V.B. and V.B.’s health insurer with an accounting following final distribution of trust property; and converting the $25,000 in settlement funds to her own use. See id., ¶¶18-19, 24. The court also determined that, during her representation of V.B. regarding the second automobile accident, Attorney Pleas committed misconduct by failing to file a personal injury lawsuit prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. See id. The court also determined that, during her representation of V.B. regarding both automobile accidents, Attorney Pleas committed misconduct by failing to communicate sufficiently with V.B., including regarding the fact that the statute of limitations had expired on the second accident claim. See id. Finally, the court determined that Attorney Pleas committed misconduct by failing to file an overdraft notification agreement with the OLR. See id.

¶5 In addition to imposing a six-month license suspension, effective November 10, 2020, the court ordered Attorney Pleas to pay restitution to V.B.’s health insurer in the amount of $8,333.33 within 60 days of the date of the disciplinary decision.

Id., ¶¶25-26.3 The court further ordered Attorney Pleas to comply with the provisions of SCR 22.26 concerning the duties of a person whose license to practice law in Wisconsin have been suspended. Id., ¶27.

¶6 On November 5, 2021, Attorney Pleas filed a petition for the reinstatement of her Wisconsin law license.

¶7 On January 19, 2022, the OLR filed a response to Attorney Pleas’ reinstatement petition, as required by SCR 22.30(4). In its response, the OLR explains that it investigated Attorney Pleas’ petition and found she has satisfied the criteria for reinstatement listed in SCR 22.29(4)(a)-(m).

¶8 Examining SCR 22.29(4)(a)-(m) criteria one by one, the OLR notes in its response that Attorney Pleas desires to have her law license reinstated, SCR 22.29(4)(a), and has not practiced law during the period of suspension, SCR 22.29(4)(b). She has instead done non-legal work for a local community organization.

¶9 As for the requirement in SCR 22.29(4)(c) that Attorney Pleas demonstrate full compliance with the terms of the order of suspension, the OLR notes in its response that Attorney Pleas has met this requirement, except for minor deviations that, in its view, do not warrant the denial of Attorney Pleas’ reinstatement petition. One way the OLR identifies that Attorney Pleas did not strictly comply with our September 29, 2020 disciplinary decision is that, while we ordered Attorney Pleas to pay $8,333.33 in restitution to V.B.’s health insurer within 60 days of the decision date (i.e., by late November 2020), Attorney Pleas did not pay this amount until well later, in October 2021. In another deviation from the terms of our disciplinary decision, while we required Attorney Pleas to notify her clients of her suspension by certified mail,4 she did so by regular mail. The OLR also reports that, while we required Attorney Pleas to file, within 25 days after her suspension date, an affidavit showing full compliance with her post-suspension obligations,5 she filed this affidavit belatedly.

¶10 Nevertheless, the OLR states in its response that Attorney Pleas "in an overall sense ultimately substantially complied with the Court's September 2020 decision." The OLR credits Attorney Pleas’ explanation that she satisfied her restitution obligation beyond the date we ordered because she was financially unable to do so earlier. The OLR accepts Attorney Pleas’ representation that her finances were seriously compromised by her personal health problems, the adverse effect of COVID-19 on her pre-suspension business income, and her limited post-suspension income. The OLR notes that Attorney Pleas’ troubled finances are documented in her tax returns and Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings. The OLR also notes that, in Attorney Pleas’ belated post-suspension affidavit, she detailed the steps she took to wind down her practice by her suspension date, including successfully petitioning this court for a 30-day extension to the suspension date to allow her additional time to wind down her practice, refraining from taking any new cases, communicating with her clients verbally and via mail (albeit not certified mail) that she had been suspended, assisting her clients in transitioning their cases to successor counsel, advising all courts and adverse counsel of her impending suspension, and otherwise taking all necessary steps to ensure her clients suffered no prejudice due to her suspension.

¶11 As for the reinstatement criteria set forth in SCR 22.29(4)(d)-(k), the OLR notes in its response that Attorney Pleas has maintained competence and learning in the law by attendance at identified educational activities, as evidenced by a January 12, 2022 memorandum from the Board of Bar Examiners confirming her compliance with continuing legal education and ethics and professional responsibility requirements, SCR 22.29(4)(d) ; that her conduct since her suspension has been exemplary and beyond reproach, SCR 22.29(4)(e) ; that she has a proper understanding of and attitude toward the standards that are imposed upon members of the bar and will act in conformity with those standards, SCR 22.29(4)(f) ; that, as evidenced by several character reference letters, she can safely be recommended to the legal profession, the courts, and the public as a person fit to be consulted by others and to represent them and otherwise act in matters of trust and confidence and in general to aid in the administration of justice as a member of the bar and as an officer of the courts, SCR 22.29(4)(g) ; and that, as discussed above, she has complied with the requirements set forth in SCR 22.26, SCR 22.29(4)(h). The OLR also notes that, in accordance with SCR 22.29(4)(j), Attorney Pleas has explained her proposed use of her license if reinstated: running a home-based practice handling simple wills, municipal and traffic matters, entity formation for small businesses, and other small matters for family and friends. The OLR also notes that Attorney Pleas satisfactorily described her business activities during her suspension in accordance with SCR 22.29(4)(k), as she explained that she works as a Program Coach for the Martin Luther King Economic Development Corporation in Milwaukee and has served as a caretaker for her mother.

¶12 The OLR next examines in its response the requirement in SCR 22.29(4)(m) that Attorney Pleas either: (1) show she has made restitution to or settled all claims of persons injured or harmed by her misconduct; or (2) provide an explanation of her failure or inability to do so. The OLR notes that it received written comments on this point from V.B., the client involved in Attorney Pleas’ earlier disciplinary matter.6 In her written comments, V.B. states that she seeks compensation for Attorney Pleas’ failure to timely file a personal injury lawsuit regarding V.B.’s second automobile accident. V.B. notes that she retained a lawyer who brought a malpractice lawsuit against Attorney Pleas, but her lawyer ultimately dismissed this lawsuit because Attorney Pleas had no malpractice insurance during the relevant time period and had commenced bankruptcy proceedings. V.B. notes that Attorney Pleas sent her lawyer in the malpractice action an offer to pay V.B. a small amount of compensation under a payment plan, but V.B.’s lawyer did not accept that proposal. V.B. states that she does not believe that Attorney Pleas has the moral character to practice law. V.B. further asks that, if this...

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