The revocation of Stokes' law license followed his conviction for felony theft in 2011. Stokes consented to the revocation. Stokes, during his career as a lawyer in the Wisconsin bar had also received a private reprimand in 1982 and a public reprimand in 1995. His license was summarily suspended by the Supreme Court, Wisconsin, in September 2011, following his conviction for felony.
Complaints against Stokes included billing the State Public Defender for work that he did not perform. This included 691 hours of work over a four-year period. He was found to have converted more than $19,600 in public funds. While consenting to the revocation of his law license, Stokes also admitted that he was not in a position to defend the five grievances and allegations of professional misconduct brought against him by the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR).
incompetently during multiple bankruptcy cases pending in the bankruptcy court of the Western District of Wisconsin, including the filing of false certificates, backdating exhibits, and forging client signatures; and of failing to adequately represent a client in a foreclosure action, and depositing advanced fees into his business account in violation of the rules regarding client-trust accounts.
According to the original felony theft complaint filed against Stokes by the State Public Defender's Office, Stokes had over billed the office during his work as counsel from 2001 to 2006, and had earned an extra $27,000 to which he had no claim. The charges followed in the wake of (five years after) a John Doe investigation started by Dane County Circuit Judge Sarah O'Brien. Stokes was also charged with perjury for lying during testimony in the John Doe case.
Records show that Stokes billed in a manner that could be discovered under first review. He billed the public defender's office even after criminal cases were dismissed; he billed for court dates that were originally scheduled but did not take place; he billed for work that took place before he was appointed to represent particular clients, and he also billed for consultations with prosecutors on Saturdays and Sundays, without any regard to the calendar.
