Attorney Nancy L. Bersgtrom, 49, of Merrill, was the subject of a grievance investigation that resulted in findings of professional misconduct. On the basis of that misconduct, summarized below, OLR sought and Attorney Bergstrom consented to a public reprimand.

Attorney Bergstrom is the Corporation Counsel for Lincoln County, Wisconsin. Attorney Bergstrom’s office was responsible for child support enforcement actions on behalf of Lincoln County. The Lincoln County Department of Social Services oversaw and reported the child support enforcement efforts to the State of Wisconsin for reimbursement from state and federal funds. In 2005, the Director of the Lincoln County Department of Social Services (the Grievant) filed a grievance with the Office of Lawyer Regulation asserting that Attorney Bergstrom had made misrepresentations about the Grievant in a press release.

In 2003 tensions arose between the Department of Social Services and Attorney Bergstrom’s office. Those tensions escalated in 2004, when the Grievant and his staff were examining whether members of Attorney Bergstrom’s staff were properly engaged in reimbursable child support enforcement work and whether members of Attorney Bergstrom’s staff were properly recording and reporting their time spent on child support enforcement activities.

Following a February 2004 meeting with the Grievant, by memorandum dated February 3, 2004, Attorney Bergstrom directed a member of her staff to change her recordkeeping method for activities reimbursable from child support funds by beginning to keep a daily log of the actual time spent on child support activities, the specific tasks performed and the case involved. Attorney Bergstrom also advised the staff member that Attorney Bergstrom would be required to provide the daily logs to the Grievant. By letter to Attorney Bergstrom dated June 10, 2004, the Grievant questioned whether the same staff member was performing activities properly reimbursable from child support enforcement funds, asserted that Attorney Bergstrom was not maintaining sufficiently detailed records to support reimbursement for that staff member’s time, and requested that Attorney Bergstrom produce by July 1, 2004 sufficiently detailed records to support the reimbursements for that staff member’s time or the time might not be reimbursable. On additional occasions between June 2004 and February 22, 2005, the Grievant and his staff communicated to Attorney Bergstrom concerns that her staff was not maintaining sufficient records documenting reimbursable activities.

On June 15, 2004, the Grievant contacted the State of Wisconsin and requested an audit of whether Attorney Bergstrom’s office was seeking reimbursements for legitimate child support enforcement activities. On February 9, 2005, the Grievant wrote a letter to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin alleging that Attorney Bergstrom’s office had sought improper reimbursements from child support enforcement funds.

On February 22, 2005, the Tomahawk Leader published a story citing a Lincoln County Board member’s public statements alleging that the Lincoln County Board and unnamed Lincoln County department heads (logically including Attorney Bergstrom, though she was not mentioned by name or title) were engaged in a cover-up of the County’s misuse of federal child support enforcement funds. Attorney Bergstrom was not contacted for comment prior to the publication of the article. In reaction to the article and the February 9, 2005 letter to the U.S. Attorney, on February 22, 2005 Attorney Bergstrom issued a press release, in which she stated, in part: