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Shane Falk
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| Shane Falk | |||
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| Basic facts | |||
| Organization: | Lawton and Cates, S.C. | ||
| Role: | Lawyer | ||
| Location: | Madison, Wis. | ||
| Expertise: | Law | ||
| Education: | •Marquette University (B.A. criminology and political science, 1993) •University of Minnesota Law School (J.D., 1996) | ||
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Shane Falk is an attorney with the legal firm Lawton and Cates as of 2015. Falk is also a former staff counsel of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) and the former chairman of the now-defunct Wisconsin Elections Board. While working at the GAB, Falk participated in the John Doe investigations related to Scott Walker until he left the agency in 2014 to return to private practice.
Career
Shane Falk graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1996. In 2003, he was the Democratic appointee to the Wisconsin Elections Board. He acted as the chairman of the board from 2003 to 2004. However, the board was eventually dissolved because of growing concern by the state that it no longer served its original purpose.[1]
In 2008, Falk was hired by the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board as staff counsel. The hire raised questions from Republican's like Don Millis, a former Elections Board chairman, who noted that, while Falk was qualified, the hire "seems to run contrary to the new makeup of the board, which is decidedly nonpartisan." Kevin Kennedy, the director of GAB, responded to concerns by stating that the hiring committee had taken Falk's prior partisan services "under advisement."[1]
In August 2014, it was announced that Falk was leaving the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board to return to private practice.[2] As of 2015, Falk was an attorney with the Madison-based law firm, Lawton and Cates. He specializes in family, labor and employment law, general litigation, personal injury and accidents, administrative and regulatory Law.[3]
Falk has won several awards for his legal services, including the Wisconsin State Bar Association: Award of Exceptional Achievement in 2001 and twice in 2007, the Gordon Sinykin Award of Excellence for Outstanding Public Service in 2001, and the Rotary: District Governor’s Award and Citation “Service Above Self” in 2002.[3]
Government Accountability Board
Falk worked for the GAB from 2008 through 2014.[2][1]
John Doe investigations
Two John Doe investigations, beginning in 2010 and ending in 2015, were launched by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm (D) into the activities of staff and associates of Gov. Scott Walker (R).[4] In October 2015, state Rep. Dean Knudson (R) introduced a reform plan that "would split the GAB into two separate commissions, one regulating ethics laws and the other covering elections. It would be similar to the system the GAB replaced in 2007." According to an article by Wisconsin Public Radio, "[ma]ny conservatives have cited the GAB’s involvement in the John Doe as the primary reason the agency should be eliminated. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said it was a factor."[5]
On December 6, 2017, the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report recommending disciplinary action but no criminal charges against six former employees of the GAB and three employees of the Milwaukee County district attorney's office who participated in the John Doe investigations, including Falk. The report also recommended that the state Office of Lawyer Regulation consider professional sanctions against Falk.[6]
The report marked the conclusion of the state DOJ's investigation into the leak of sealed John Doe documents published by the Guardian newspaper in September 2016. The department's report concluded that "the systemic and pervasive mishandling of John Doe evidence likely resulted in circumstances allowing the Guardian leak in the first place, and now prevents prosecutors from proving criminal liability beyond a reasonable doubt." The report notes that DOJ investigators were unable to find a hard drive containing John Doe documents that had belonged to Falk during his time at the GAB. The report suggests that this hard drive may have contained the documents leaked to the Guardian.[6][7][8]
Falk responded to these allegations by saying that he reported issues with the handling of John Doe documents to legal regulators and argued that he did not act inappropriately. He also said that he turned over the missing hard drive to the GAB when he left the agency in 2014.[6]
Media
Recent news
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See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Journal Sentinel, "GAB's hiring of ex-Dem appointee to Elections Board questioned," October 21, 2008
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wisconsin GAB, "Departure of Staff Counsel Shane Falk," August 15, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lawton and Cates, "Shane W. Falk," accessed September 17, 2015
- ↑ United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Milwaukee Division, "Eric O’Keefe, and Wisconsin Club for Growth, Inc.," accessed February 23, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin Public Radio, "GAB Chair Blasts Conservatives On Wisconsin Supreme Court," October 7, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "John Doe judge to step down because of tweets he posted about the case," December 8, 2017
- ↑ The Capital Times, "DOJ investigation of John Doe leak recommends disciplinary actions, reveals 'John Doe III' investigation," December 7, 2017
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "John Doe investigation into Gov. Scott Walker gathered millions of pages of records from Republicans," December 7, 2017
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