45 Counts

The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld 45 counts of ethical misconduct and ordered a suspension of three years.

The attorney’s contentions

Attorney Gatzke strenuously argues that the referee’s recommendation for license revocation is wholly unwarranted. He points out that none of the counts asserted by the OLR allege that Attorney Gatzke’s legal representation was deficient in any matter. He asserts the fact that he has not been previously disciplined, that his entire career has been an effort to benefit his community, and that he has been extremely cooperative with the OLR throughout the disciplinary process are significant mitigating factors that the referee should have weighed in determining what discipline is appropriate. He suggests that a suspension of less than five months is the maximum discipline warranted. He agrees that it would be appropriate for the court to require him to have his trust account reviewed by an accountant on a quarterly basis for a period of one year.

On the other hand

The OLR asserts there is overwhelming evidence in this case that Attorney Gatzke converted client funds systematically over a period of years and the misconduct cannot be explained away by ignorance or sloppy recordkeeping. The OLR says the referee appropriately noted that the ABA standards for imposing lawyer sanctions provide that “disbarment is generally appropriate when a lawyer knowingly converts client property and causes injury or potential injury to a client,” and where “a lawyer engages in any other intentional conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation that seriously adversely reflects on the lawyer’s fitness to practice.” ABA Standards, §§ III.C.4.11 and III.C.5.11(b). The OLR says in concluding that the multiple instances of conversion of client funds required revocation, the referee pointed to aggravating factors, including a pattern of misconduct, multiple offenses, refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing, the vulnerability of the victims, together with Attorney Gatzke’s substantial experience in the practice of law and his indifference to making restitution. Thus, the OLR argues that revocation is an appropriate sanction.

The court split the baby

Much more troubling than the recordkeeping and trust account deficiencies are Attorney Gatzke’s failure to obtain written conflict waivers before entering into business transactions with P.S. and his conversion of P.S.’s funds. We acknowledge that Attorney Gatzke’s lack of previous disciplinary history warrants some consideration. However, the number of counts of misconduct at issue in this case requires a serious sanction… In Cooper, an attorney who was found to have committed multiple violations of SCR 20:8.4(c) as well as multiple trust account violations received a three-year suspension. We find a three-year suspension to be an appropriate sanction in this case as well.

The court also ordered restitution with a dissent on that point from Justice Gableman

I concur in the portion of the opinion suspending Attorney Gatzke’s license to practice law for three years, imposing full costs, and requiring him, upon reinstatement, to submit to trust account monitoring. I dissent from the portion of the opinion ordering Attorney Gatzke to make restitution to P.S. and A.S. I believe the issue of restitution should be addressed in a separate civil proceeding.

I am authorized to state that Justice REBECCA G. BRADLEY joins this concurrence/dissent.

(Mike Frisch)