Office of Lawyer Regulation v. P. Nicholas Hurtgen
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
2009 WI 92 SUPREME COURT CASE NO.: COMPLETE TITLE: OF WISCONSIN 2009AP941-D In the Matter of Disciplinary Proceedings Against P. Nicholas Hurtgen, Attorney at Law: Office of Lawyer Regulation, Complainant, v. P. Nicholas Hurtgen, Respondent. DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HURTGEN OPINION FILED: SUBMITTED ON BRIEFS: ORAL ARGUMENT: September 9, 2009 SOURCE OF APPEAL: COURT: COUNTY: JUDGE: JUSTICES: CONCURRED: DISSENTED: NOT PARTICIPATING: ATTORNEYS: PROSSER, J., did not participate. 2009 WI 92 NOTICE This opinion is subject to further editing and modification. The final version will appear in the bound volume of the official reports. No. 2009AP941-D STATE OF WISCONSIN : IN SUPREME COURT In the Matter of Disciplinary Proceedings Against P. Nicholas Hurtgen, Attorney at Law: FILED Office of Lawyer Regulation, Complainant, SEP 9, 2009 v. David R. Schanker Clerk of Supreme Court P. Nicholas Hurtgen, Respondent. ATTORNEY disciplinary proceeding. Attorney's license revoked. ¶1 PER CURIAM. Attorney P. Nicholas Hurtgen has filed a petition for 22.19.1 He states he cannot successfully defend against pending 1 consensual license revocation pursuant to SCR 22.19 provides, in pertinent part: (1) An attorney who is the subject of an investigation for possible misconduct or the respondent in a proceeding may file with the supreme court a petition for the revocation by consent [of] his or her license to practice law. SCR No. 2009AP941-D charges of professional misconduct relating to his conviction, entered following a guilty plea, to one count of aiding and abetting wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1346, and 2 in connection with a long-running federal investigation of corruption in the administration of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. ¶2 Attorney Wisconsin in 1992. Hurtgen was admitted to practice law in He resides in Illinois and is presently the subject of an OLR investigation into these matters. ¶3 The facts from the indictment are complicated and will be only briefly summarized by this court. Attorney Hurtgen was a senior managing director in the Chicago office of Bear Stearns & Co. ("Bear Stearns"), an investment bank that did business with Edward Hospital. In December 2007 Attorney Hurtgen was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on three counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of extortion in connection with a "pay to play" scheme involving medical facility construction projects in Illinois. Two other individuals, Stuart Levine, a member of the Illinois Planning Board, and Jacob Kiferbaum, owner and operator (2) The petition shall state that the petitioner cannot successfully defend against the allegations of misconduct. . . . (5) The supreme court shall grant the petition and revoke the petitioner's license to practice law or deny the petition and remand the matter to the director or to the referee for further proceedings. 2 No. 2009AP941-D of Kiferbaum Construction, were also indicted in connection with the same scheme. sought to The indictment indicates that Attorney Hurtgen arrange the financing of a proposed Plainfield hospital and medical center for Edward Hospital. ¶4 The indictment alleges that between early 2001 through at least June 2004, the three men conspired to defraud Chicago Medical School, the Planning Board, and the State of Illinois, among others, in connection with four construction projects. ¶5 According to the indictment, Levine, Kiferbaum, and Attorney Hurtgen agreed they would use Levine's position on the Planning Board to try to force Edward Hospital to hire Kiferbaum's company to build the proposed $90 million hospital and a $23 million medical office building in Plainfield. The plan the was to tell Edward Hospital representatives that Planning Board would not approve the projects unless they hired Kiferbaum to build the projects. the scheme because he wanted Attorney Hurtgen assisted in his employer, Bear Stearns, to receive the financing work for the new Edward Hospital. ¶6 According to the indictment, Attorney Hurtgen agreed to introduce Kiferbaum to the CEO of Edward Hospital. Kiferbaum understood that Levine would direct the CEO to provide him with a kickback. According to the indictment, in mid-December 2003, Attorney Hurtgen called Edward Hospital's CEO and said if the hospital wanted postpone its to have certain application permits before the approved, it Planning Board December 17, 2003, to allow time to hire Kiferbaum. the permit would be denied. should on Otherwise, On December 23, 2003, Attorney 3 No. 2009AP941-D Hurtgen and Kiferbaum met with Edward Hospital's CEO to attempt to force the hiring of Kiferbaum's company. ¶7 On January 8, 2004, Attorney Hurtgen met again with the CEO as well as with Edward Hospital's project administrator. When this meeting occurred, the defendants were unaware that the hospital officials were cooperating with the FBI. The indictment alleged that in explaining his role in persuading Edward Hospital officials to hire Kiferbaum's company, Attorney Hurtgen said that Bear Stearns would finance the hospital if it was approved. requested During the January meeting, the hospital's CEO proof that the threats and promises were real. Attorney Hurtgen said he might be able to arrange a situation in which Levine Attorney would bump After Hurtgen. "inadvertently" discussions, further into the CEO and Levine and Attorney Hurtgen went to a restaurant in Deerfield, Illinois, on April 18, Hurtgen, 2004, and to prove Kiferbaum to were the CEO working that Levine, together and Attorney that their threats and promises were real. Levine and Attorney Hurtgen walked Kiferbaum over to the table where and the sitting and spoke with them about hiring Kiferbaum. CEO were Attorney Hurtgen later said he told the CEO that it was "all about money" for campaign contributions. ¶8 As of the April 21, 2004, Planning Edward Hospital had not hired Kiferbaum. Board meeting, Levine voted against the project and the Plainfield hospital application was denied. ¶9 whereby Attorney Hurtgen eventually reached a plea agreement he promised to cooperate 4 with the investigation in No. return for a recommendation of a lighter sentence. 2009AP941-D He entered a guilty plea on February 25, 2009. ¶10 Attorney Hurtgen is a Wisconsin-licensed attorney who engaged in felonious behavior by participating in a pay-to-play scheme. Admittedly, Attorney Hurtgen was not acting as an attorney when he engaged in this scheme, but his participation in this scheme reflects serious misconduct that violates the public trust. sanction, The OLR recommends revocation as the appropriate and recommendation. Attorney Hurtgen does not oppose this He acknowledges he cannot successfully defend against the allegations of the pending disciplinary proceeding. He states that he is freely, voluntarily, and knowingly filing the petition for consensual license revocation. He notes that he is represented by counsel, and states that he knows he is giving up his right to contest the allegations of misconduct. ¶11 Therefore, we accept Attorney Hurtgen's petition for consensual license revocation, and we revoke Attorney Hurtgen's license to practice law in Wisconsin. ¶12 IT IS ORDERED that the license of P. Nicholas Hurtgen to practice law in Wisconsin is revoked, effective the date of this order. ¶13 already IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, to the extent he has not done so, P. Nicholas Hurtgen shall comply with the provisions of SCR 22.26 concerning the duties of an attorney whose license to practice law has been revoked. ¶14 DAVID T. PROSSER, J., did not participate. 5 No. 1 2009AP941-D
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
