Lawyer Gets Three-Year Suspension for Accessing Onetime Fiancée’s Bank Accounts
A Wisconsin lawyer has received a three-year suspension, partly for trying to steal money from his onetime fiancée.
Lawyer James Schoenecker agreed to the suspension, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the sanction, report the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog Proof & Hearsay and the Legal Profession Blog. He will be required to demonstrate a proper understanding of ethics standards before reinstatement. Two dissenters argued a more severe sanction may be warranted.
Proof & Hearsay calls Schoenecker’s run-in with ethics regulators a “doozy.” A 2003 Columbia law grad, most of his problems relate to his interactions with the fiancée, the opinion (PDF) says. It outlines these allegations:
The troubles between Schoenecker and his fiancée began after he made cash withdrawals from her account while at a casino, two days after she loaned him $48,500. At that point, the engagement was over. He repaid $26,500 and, after the ex-girlfriend filed a collection action, he agreed to pay about $32,000 to resolve the case.
That wasn’t the extent of Schoenecker’s dealings with the woman, the opinion says. He also tried to withdraw money from the ex-fiancée’s business account by using her personal information to make changes allowing bill payment online. He wrote himself three checks but was able to cash only one, for $950. He pleaded guilty to identity theft and theft of property in connection with his online misdeeds and paid restitution.
The opinion lists other wrongdoing. He failed to tell the bankruptcy court and his Lake Geneva law firm, the Clair Law Offices, that he had set up a solo law practice on the side. He also represented the girlfriend in a dispute with a contractor and submitted inflated bills for the work.
Schoenecker’s Avvo profile claims he previously worked at Quarles & Brady, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, and Hughes Hubbard & Reed.
