Wisconsin AG Loses It When Former Biglaw Associate Accused Of Rape Gets An Award

These things can't just be swept under the rug.

There’s been so much progress in recent years to foster a criminal justice system that welcomes sexual assault survivors and other crime victims… This is a terrible lapse in judgment, and Mr. Addison’s nomination should be pulled. He does not deserve to have his name listed alongside the 15 other distinguished attorneys and judges nominated this year.

—Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel in a statement recommending Stephan Addison be stripped of his nomination for the Jack DeWitt WisLAP Volunteer Award, which recognizes contributions to the Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program. In 2005 Addison, a Seyfarth Shaw associate at the time, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman on vacation, and later pleaded no contest to a felony charge of second-degree reckless endangerment and to two misdemeanor counts of sexual gratification. Paul Swanson, president of the State Bar of Wisconsin, said he’d recommend the nomination be rescinded, and according to Law.com, mention of Addison’s nomination has been scrubbed from the Wisconsin Bar’s website.


headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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