Governor Doyle's chief legal counsel resigns over licensing flap

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Wisconsin State Journal, Madison, WI

By Jason Stein

Gov. Jim Doyle’s chief legal counsel resigned today after the Republican Party of Wisconsin filed a complaint with state regulators alleging that she was practicing law without a license.

“Chandra Miller Fienen has voluntarily tendered her resignation. She realizes that she has placed this office in a difficult position,” Doyle spokesman Lee Sensenbrenner said in a statement.

Doyle’s office also released Miller Fienen’s terse resignation letter, which was signed today.

“I hereby tender my resignation. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve as a senior advisor in the office of the governor,” the letter reads. 

Chandra Miller Fienen was hired to the office of legal counsel in 2008 after serving as the number three official in the state Department of Commerce.

The Republican Party’s complaint with the state Office of Lawyer Regulation alleges that Miller Fienen engaged in the unauthorized practice of law by presenting herself as Doyle’s “chief legal counsel” in documents addressed to the party.

In a statement, Doyle spokeswoman Carol Andrews said Miller Fienen had practiced law in California and been hired as a “senior adviser” on issues such as education and commerce. She said Miller Fienen hadn’t practiced law without a license or exceeded her authority.

Miller Fienen is not listed as a licensed lawyer by the state Bar of Wisconsin. But her father, budget committee co-chairman Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, said Friday that his daughter had passed her bar exam “within the last year.”
Doyle, a lawyer himself, can also be represented by state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

Howard Schweber, a political science and law professor at UW-Madison, said it would be better to have a lawyer in that position who has passed the state bar and proven that he or she knows the laws of Wisconsin. Schweber said that there wasn’t anything necessarily illegal or even unethical about Miller Fienen calling herself Doyle’s legal counsel but that it did put her at risk of unauthorized practice of law.

“It puts her in a somewhat risky position and it’s probably not wise,” Schweber said.

Miller Fienen did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

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