Sanction Reduced For Defaulting Attorney; Justice Asserts Court Rules Violated

A 60-day suspension was imposed by the Wisconsin Supreme Court for an attorney’s misconduct in handling his mother’s estate.

The attorney had defaulted on the charges and had faced a recommended suspension of two years but a majority of the court ratcheted the sanction down

We note, too, that the three counts of misconduct at issue here do not evince an extensive pattern of indifference to our ethical rules. Finally, we note that our knowledge of Attorney Roitburd’s misconduct is limited to the facts alleged in the OLR’s complaint and established by Attorney Roitburd’s default. As a result, there is much we do not know about his work as personal representative of his mother’s estate, and about the estate itself. For example, while we know that certain assets went unaccounted for, we do not know whether any mistakes Attorney Roitburd made in the administration of the estate rose to the level of dishonesty or bad faith. We do not know whether Attorney Roitburd was an heir to the estate, such that he might otherwise have been entitled to receive some amount of the assets at issue. We do not know whether his actions affected the rights and realization of payments to creditors of the estate…

In light of our resolutions of prior disciplinary actions, and in light of the unique circumstances of this case, we deem the OLR’s and the referee’s recommended two-year suspension to be excessive. To be clear, Attorney Roitburd should not construe this opinion as a vindication of any aspect of his misconduct or his failure to appear at any stage of these disciplinary proceedings. We simply conclude that, while Attorney Roitburd violated his ethical duties as an attorney, a 60-day suspension will be sufficient to accomplish the objectives of the lawyer disciplinary system.

Justice Abrahamson dissented and stated

(I) I disagree with the four justices joining the OLR per curiam blocking release of Justice David T. Prosser’s separate writing and insisting that his writing be released at a later time. No basis exists for this action. Indeed, the four justices have violated the Supreme Court’s Internal Operating Procedures (IOP).

(II) I disagree with the length of suspension imposed by the per curiam opinion. The per curiam grants Attorney Roitburd a 22-month reduction in the sanction requested in the OLR complaint to which he defaulted. There is no justification for this significant downward departure.

On Wisconsin. (Mike Frisch)