Bonus Scheme Draws Suspension

An attorney who falsely claimed he had billed over 1,800 hours in two separate years in order to receive a bonus has been suspended for twelve months by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The method by which the attorney (who was his law firm’s treasurer) accomplished his scheme was described by the court:

After the Firm paid Attorney S. each of the bonuses, butbefore the Firm mailed his bills to his clients, Attorney S. reduced, or”wrote-down,” certain of his billable hours for the years for whichthe bonuses were paid.  In early 2008Attorney S. wrote-down 29.2 hours of time from his 2007 billings withoutnotifying the Firm.  These write-downscaused Attorney S.’s 2007 billables to drop about 25 hours below the 1,800level.  In early 2009 Attorney S.wrote-down 231.9 hours from his 2008 billings, again without notifying theFirm.  These write-downs caused AttorneyS.’s 2008 billables to drop below 1,600 hours.

As to sanction:

Weconclude that a 12-month license suspension is sufficient to advance theobjectives of lawyer discipline.  This isso due to the number of mitigating factors that appear in the record.  Attorney S. has no previousdisciplinary history.  He lost his jobwith the Firm.  He paid $60,000 to theFirm to compensate for the bonuses to which he was not entitled and for otherunspecified damages claimed by the Firm. He forfeited his interest in the Firm’s profit sharing plan.  As explained below, these disciplinaryproceedings have been costly to Attorney S.  We are persuaded that, given these particularcircumstances, Attorney S. understands the seriousness with which thiscourt views his conduct, and he will not likely repeat it.

Chief Justice Abrahamson would impose the 18-month suspension propoped by the referee. (Mike Frisch)