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Supreme Court of Wisconsin |
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In the Matter of the Review of the Office of Lawyer Regulation |
FILED JUL 7, 2015 Diane M. Fremgen Clerk of Supreme Court Madison, WI |
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On February 6, 2015, Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson[1] filed a rule petition asking the court to create supreme court rules providing for review of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys and the organization, operation, and procedures of the lawyer discipline system, including the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR), District Committees, Preliminary Review Committee, Referees, and Board of Administrative Oversight. The petition also proposes creation of a Lawyer Regulation Review Committee to undertake the comprehensive review.
The memorandum filed in support of the petition notes that the current lawyer regulatory system was established 15 years ago. Since then, several lawyer regulation cases and rule petitions have raised issues relating to the rules and the lawyer discipline system. See, e.g., Rule Petition 13-04 (relating to referees in the lawyer regulatory system); Rule Petition 13-05 (relating to enforcement of lawyer disciplinary orders); Rule Petition 13-06 (relating to stipulations in lawyer disciplinary proceedings); Rule Petition 13-12 (relating to public notice of formal investigations); Rule Petition 14-05 (relating to a lawyer misconduct rule); Rule Petition 14-06 (relating to exercise of OLR discretion); Rule Petition 14-07 (relating to electronic banking procedures for attorney trust accounts); Rule Petition 15-03 (relating to rules of professional conduct for attorneys). Rule petitions and related filings are available online at http://www.wicourts.gov/scrules/supreme.htm. Specific issues a review committee might consider may be identified at the hearing.
IT IS ORDERED that a public hearing on Rule Petition 15-01 shall be held in the Supreme Court Room in the State Capitol, Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, September 21, 2015, at 9:00 a.m.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the court's conference in the matter shall be held promptly following the public hearing.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that notice of the hearing be given by a publication of a copy of this order and of the petition in the official state newspaper once each week for three consecutive weeks, and in an official publication of the State Bar of Wisconsin not more than 60 days nor less than 30 days before the date of the hearing.
Dated at Madison, Wisconsin, this 7th day of July, 2015.
BY THE COURT:
Diane M. Fremgen
Clerk of Supreme Court
[1] Effective May 1, 2015, Patience Drake Roggensack succeeded Shirley S. Abrahamson as Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.