A Private Matter

An attorney was privately reprimanded by the Indiana Supreme Court (the case is styled In Re Anonymous). The attorney had hired his spouse as the accountant and bookkeeper for his two-person law firm. He exercised no control or supervision over her work.  During a period of about five months, the spouse misappropriated over $22,000 by forging the lawyer’s name to checks drawn on the trust account.  When the lawyer and his law partner discovered the defalcations, she admitted the misconduct and made restitution. The court found no aggravating factors. (Mike Frisch)