State Bar of Wisconsin rescinds award to lawyer convicted in sex offense

After Attorney General Brad Schimel lashed out at the State Bar of Wisconsin for honoring a member who had been convicted in a 2005 sexual assault case, a bar committee rescinded the award after an emergency meeting Thursday.

Stephan Addison was to be recognized for helping peers with addiction, stress or behavior problems through his work with the Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program.

But after the public critique from Schimel, the bar's president said late Wednesday that the committee that made the nomination would reconsider.

"It is my recommendation that this nomination be withdrawn, acknowledging the seriousness of the issue of sexual assault and out of respect to survivors and victims,”  Paul Swanson said in a statement issued Wednesday evening.

Addison was set to be honored as one of The Best Among Us, 18 people commended by colleagues for making a difference. The group will be officially recognized at the bar's annual meeting in June.

Addison, 39, of Illinois, was -- until Thursday afternoon -- named the Jack DeWitt WisLAP Volunteer for his years of work providing peer support and monitoring to other lawyers battling addiction, psychological issues and professional sanctions.

It is meant to recognize those who provide "confidential, meaningful assistance, educational outreach or other volunteer service" through the Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance program. He was selected by the WisLAP committee of the state bar.

Andrea Hoeschen, chair of the committee, issued a statement that, "at the request of State Bar leadership," it had rescinded the award.  She said a quorum of the committee's approximately 15 members were able to meet Thursday.

Hoeschen said she could not speak for each member's knowledge about Addison's past before the initial decision, but noted that he was a member in good standing of the bar, and that his disciplinary record and criminal record were all publicly available.

She said no one at Thursday's meeting said they were unaware earlier, but that some had done additional research before the vote to rescind the award. She would not disclose the vote.

In a news release Wednesday, Schimel noted that Wisconsin recognized National Crime Victims Rights Week, and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and questioned, "what kind of message (the bar) is sending to the state and survivors of sexual assault" by honoring Addison.

The release noted that Addison was convicted of second-degree recklessly endangering safety and two misdemeanor counts of sexual gratification after an incident in Green Lake County involving another young male lawyer, and a woman. 

Addison and Benjamin Butler were initially charged with sexual assault of a Berlin woman on the hood of a car during a weekend of drinking at Addison's family vacation home in Green Lake County.

They later pleaded no contest to the reduced charges and were ordered to perform community service as a condition of suspended prison sentences. Addison was also sentenced to 30 days in jail with work release.

The case caused some backlash in Green Lake County among people who felt their status as lawyers won them leniency.

Both men were also later suspended from practicing law in Illinois and Wisconsin, Addison for 60 days, Butler for 30. They had each lost their jobs at Chicago law firms.

As word spread this week about Addison's award, one prosecutor said several others were uneasy. 

"It's kind of quick for a redemption story when the redemption story includes sexual assault," said James Kraus, a Kenosha County assistant district attorney, who was not involved in prosecuting Addison's case. 

He said he felt concerned for the woman in the offense involving Addison. Kraus said he has seen sexual assault victims react emotionally to triggering events years later.

"How would the victim feel about this?" Kraus asked. "How would she feel to see him being given an award a decade later by his peers?"

The law firm founded by the award's namesake also urged the bar to change course, saying even significant contributions to WisLAP don't' outweigh the harm to the victim in the 2005 offense.

"To give this award to Mr. Addison would tarnish the principles that Jack DeWitt stood for," wrote Bradley Fulton, president and managing partner of Dewitt Ross & Stevens, in a letter to bar president Swanson.

Addison did not return an email seeking an interview.

Cary Spivak of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.