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Case No.: |
04-2496-D |
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Complete Title: |
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In the
Matter of Disciplinary Proceedings Against
John A. Krueger, Attorney at Law: Office
of Lawyer Regulation, Complainant, v. John
A. Krueger, Respondent. |
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DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST KRUEGER |
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Opinion Filed: |
November 17, 2004 |
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Not Participating: |
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2004 WI 141
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Supreme
Court of Wisconsin |
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Notice This order is subject to further editing and modification. The final version will appear in the bound volume of the official reports. |
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The Court entered the following order on this date:
On September 22,
2004, the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) filed a disciplinary complaint
against Attorney John A. Krueger asking this court to impose reciprocal
discipline identical to that imposed on Attorney Krueger by the Minnesota
Supreme Court. That court suspended
Attorney Krueger’s Minnesota law license for 30 days, effective July 26,
2004. On September 23, 2004, this court
issued an order to show cause directing Attorney Krueger to show cause in
writing by October 13, 2004 why the imposition of the identical discipline
imposed by the Minnesota Supreme Court would be unwarranted. Attorney Krueger failed to respond to the
order to show cause.
Attorney Krueger
was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1991 and he became licensed to
practice law in Minnesota in 1990.
The 30-day
suspension in Minnesota resulted from misconduct involving: notarizing a client release that contained a
forged client signature; endorsing settlement checks that contained a forged
client signature and withdrawing attorney’s fees from the settlement proceeds;
failure to supervise a non-lawyer employee thus enabling the employee to
negotiate and settle personal injury claims on behalf of a deceased client and
to secure the forged client signatures on the release and settlement checks;
and failure to timely-file state and federal income tax returns in 1996 and
1997.
SCR 22.22(3)
provides that this court shall impose the identical discipline or license
suspension unless the procedure in the other jurisdiction was so lacking in
notice or opportunity to be heard as to constitute a due process violation;
there was such an infirmity of proof establishing the misconduct that this
court should not accept as final the misconduct finding; or the misconduct
justifies substantially different discipline here. Neither OLR nor Attorney Krueger contend, nor does this court
find, that any of these three exceptions exist.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED
that the license of John A. Krueger to practice law in the State of Wisconsin
be suspended for 30 days, effective the date of this order;
IT IS FURTHER
ORDERED that Attorney Krueger shall comply, if he has not already done so, with
the requirements of SCR 22.26 pertaining to activities following suspension.