Frank Advice About Lawyer Advertising You Will Not See Elsewhere - We Are Committed to Protecting the Public

Hausmann McNally law firm Senior Partner, Charles J. Hausmann, with offices in Milwaukee, Madison, and Appleton, Wisconsin and Decatur and Peoria, Illinois, has continued to practice law for more than 2-1/2 years after pleading guilty to criminal charges in Federal Court in June of 2002. In fact, as of January 10, 2005, he still has his license. He went to Federal prison at Oxford, Wisconsin on November 28, 2003, for defrauding approximately 200 of his firm's personal injury clients. His law firm is still sending letters soliciting personal injury cases to people who have been involved in motor vehicle accidents. The lawyer's partner sends out a 28-page brochure telling accident victims they should "Find a lawyer and law firm they can really trust." What the brochure does not tell you is that his partner was convicted of conduct that betrayed the trust and confidence placed in him by his clients. Click here to read June 10th, 2002 article about lawyer sentenced to prison for defrauding his clients. Click here to read December 13th, 2003 article about the same attorney.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation finally got around to having a disciplinary hearing in October, 2004. As of January 10, 2005, Hausmann still has a license to practice law and is still telling people to "hire a lawyer they can really trust."

Another lawyer who advertises on television every day and appears in his own commercials hasn’t lived in Milwaukee for 20 years. Another lawyer who advertises both on television and by direct mail may never have tried one personal injury case in thirty years.

There is nothing illegal or unethical about what any of these lawyers are doing. If you ask the State Bar about any of these lawyers, they would tell you that they are all expert advisors. In fact, you would be told by the State Bar that all 20,000 lawyers in Wisconsin are “expert advisors” without limitation as to time in practice or field of practice. How can this happen? First, with regard to lawyer advertising, any lawyer can advertise for personal injury cases saying he is an “expert advisor.” Many of the letters you get from lawyers after you have been in an accident may be from small one-man law firms which don’t “concentrate in” personal injury law. How many law firms that you receive direct mail from tell you what their qualifications are?

There are many good law firms that advertise on television and by direct mail, including ours. However, be careful and ask questions before you hire a lawyer. You may find out that your lawyer has been sentenced to prison, hasn’t lived here for twenty years or has never tried a personal injury case after it’s too late.

How can the State Bar claim that all lawyers are “expert advisors?” Some years ago, a new law firm in Milwaukee ran a full page advertisement in the Milwaukee Journal claiming that the lawyers in that firm had a high level of legal expertise. I complained to the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility that this was false advertising. I believe one of the lawyers claimed he was an “expert” even though he had never tried a case. Both were charged with unprofessional conduct and I testified at the hearing against them that I thought the advertising was unprofessional and misleading.

Amazingly, the lawyers narrowly escaped discipline and were exonerated. Based on this decision it appears that any lawyer in Wisconsin can claim he is a “legal expert.” Lawyers are “expert advisors” but not all lawyers are and no lawyer is an “expert” in all areas of the law.

Posted September 12, 2006

On August 30, 2005, the Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended the law license of Charles J. Hausmann to practice law for one year. Hausmann has applied to the Supreme Court for reinstatement of his law license. The name of Attorney Hausmann's firm was changed from Hausmann-McNally, S.C. to McNally Law Offices, S.C. Attorney John F. McNally, partner of Charles J. Hausmann prior to the above suspension, has taken over the law firm. No lawyer but Charles J. Hausmann was charged with any wrongdoing.

Posted May 31, 2007

On May 17, 2007, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of Attorney Charles J. Hausmann's license to practice law in Wisconsin and further directed him to pay the costs of the reinstatement proceeding.

Editor's Note: Lawyer Claims It's Unfair For Me To Warn You

Update: October 8, 2004

I've been advised that Attorney Charles J. Hausmann claims that it is unfair for me to warn you that he went to Federal prison for sixty days for mail and wire fraud and conspiracy involving a secret kickback scheme with a chiropractor to whom he referred numerous clients. He claims it is unfair for me to tell uninformed accident victims that when they receive a brochure from a law firm telling them 51 times they should hire a trusted lawyer, it is from the same law firm whose senior partner went to Federal prison.

Hausmann claims that it is not civil for one lawyer to say this about another lawyer and that, because he is an ex-convict, public policy is that he should not be restrained from making a living. He claims that he shouldn't be discriminated against because of his criminal record.

I am not discriminating against him. Public policy in this state is that lawyers not betray the trust and confidence of their clients. In order to keep society fair and balanced, the U.S. and Wisconsin Constitutions guarantee us all free speech, and, when a lawyer tells uninformed clients that he should be hired because he is a "trusted lawyer", the public is entitled to know the full story.

I'm not accusing twenty thousand lawyers in Wisconsin of being missing in action when one of our own pled guilty to mail and wire fraud and conspiracy over two years ago. I may not be the Bill O'Reilly of the legal profession in Wisconsin, but I have to wonder how and why Hausmann has kept his law license after being convicted of the above conduct over two years ago. In the meantime . . .

I WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK OUT FOR YOU.