Use Of Trust Account To Aid Son’s Business Gets Lawyer Reprimanded

An attorney who allowed his escrow account to be used by his son, who was experiencing financial difficulty in operating a construction business, was publicly reprimanded by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The court declined to order restitution to the son’s aggrieved customer

There is no question that Attorney Steffes violated the trust account rules by allowing his son to use his trust account as a clearing house for his construction business.  However, we are not convinced that this ethical failure per se obligates Attorney Steffes to reimburse his son’s business client, R.W., for the loss R.W. incurred in his business dealings with G.S. and Steffes Construction.  R.W. had a remedy for that loss and indeed availed himself of that remedy:  R.W. sought and obtained a civil monetary judgment for $9,500 directly from Steffes Construction. 

We reiterate that Attorney Steffes should not have permitted his son to deposit funds into Attorney Steffes’s trust account.  This conduct violated the ethics rules and warrants discipline.  However, we are not persuaded under the facts of this case that the rules go so far as to require Attorney Steffes to essentially serve as guarantor for funds of his son’s business client, R.W.  While the court can appreciate that R.W. is aggrieved because he lost over $10,000 due to G.S.’s failure to complete a construction project, it remains true that R.W. obtained a judgment against G.S. in civil court.

The attorney’s trust account will be monitored for six mobnths. (Mike Frisch)