Knickmeier v. Office of Lawyer Regulation
Knickmeier v. Office of Lawyer Regulation
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
In June 2001, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin temporarily suspended Jeffrey Knickmeier’s license to practice law until further notice, after the state’s Office of Lawyer Regulation (“OLR”) received a grievance alleging professional misconduct and sought a temporary suspension of his license. The Wisconsin supreme court subsequently denied Knickmeier’s three motions for reconsideration or modification of the suspension order. The OLR initiated formal disciplinary proceedings, and in September 2003 a fact-finding hearing was held before a “referee,” the Honorable Dennis J. Flynn. According to Knickmeier, that same month the referee issued his report to the supreme court recommending that the court revoke Knickmeier’s license and reject his constitutional challenges to that court’s procedure authorizing temporary suspensions. Knickmeier objected to that recommendation, and to our knowledge a decision from the Wisconsin supreme court is still pending.
Meanwhile, in August 2003, prior to his hearing before the referee, Knickmeier filed suit in federal district court seeking a declaration that the rules governing temporary suspensions in Wisconsin are unconstitutional, and damages from the director of the OLR. Knickmeier had raised the same constitutional challenges in one of his post-suspension motions before the state supreme court, and would do so again before the referee. The district court dismissed Knickmeier’s complaint without prejudice, reasoning that it was required to abstain under Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 91 S.Ct. 746, 27 L.Ed.2d 669 (1971), because of the ongoing state judicial proceedings in the Wisconsin supreme court. We review this determination de novo, Edwards v. Ill. Bd. of Admissions to the Bar, 261 F.3d 723, 727 (7th Cir. 2001), and though we affirm the dismissal, we modify it to reflect that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over Knickmeier’s complaint.
The district court’s abstention analysis would have been appropriate if not for a more fundamental problem with Knickmeier’s claims. A decision to abstain assumes the existence of subject matter jurisdiction. See Ohio Civil Rights Comm. v. Dayton Christian Schs., Inc., 477 U.S. 619, 626, 106 S.Ct. 2718, 91 L.Ed.2d 512 (1986). But we conclude that here the district court altogether lacked jurisdiction over Knickmeier’s suit under the well-established Rooker-Feldman doctrine. See Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413, 44 S.Ct. 149, 68 L.Ed. 362 (1923); District of Colombia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462, 103 S.Ct. 1303, 75 L.Ed.2d 206 (1983); Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v.Super. Ct. for the State of Cal., 326 F.3d 816, 821 (7th Cir. 2002) (Rooker-Feldman doctrine is jurisdictional); Homola v. McNamara, 59 F.3d 647, 650 (7th Cir. 1995) (same). The Rooker-Feldman doctrine bars a lower federal court from exercising jurisdiction over an action that would require the court to review a civil matter that has been adjudicated by a state court or that is inextricably intertwined with a state court determination. Manley v. City of Chicago, 236 F.3d 392, 396 (7th Cir. 2001).
Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is MODIFIED to reflect a dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and as modified, is AFFIRMED.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jeffrey KNICKMEIER v. OFFICE OF LAWYER REGULATION
- Status
- Published