Court Opinion

ID: 9835051
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-02 02:02:30.843786+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:18:20.642145
License: Public Domain

¶ 27.
SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J.
(concurring). I join the court's decision and order as to the discipline imposed in this matter. I write separately to address costs and restitution.
¶ 28. Attorney Biester has been ordered to pay the Office of Lawyer Regulation $8,712.86 in costs and to make restitution in the amount of $78,000 to the Wisconsin Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. In the event Attorney Biester petitions for the reinstatement of her license to practice law in Wisconsin, she will be required to demonstrate that she has complied fully with the terms of the order of suspension, see SCR 22.29(4)(c), and that she has made restitution to or settled all claims of persons injured or harmed by her misconduct or explained the failure or inability to do so. See SCR 22.29(4m).
¶ 29. If an attorney has satisfied all of the requirements set forth in SCRs 22.31(1) and 22.29(4)(a)-(4m), his or her license to practice law may be reinstated notwithstanding the failure to pay costs or make restitution provided the attorney has been unable to do so due to a lack of financial resources. I write separately to clarify that Attorney Biester's inability to pay costs or make restitution, standing alone, would not automatically bar her from regaining her law license. See, e.g., In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Widule, 2012 WI 63, 341 Wis. 2d *590493, 817 N.W.2d 822; In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Gilbert, 2001 WI 102, 255 Wis. 2d 311, 647 N.W.2d 845.