Disciplinary Proceedings Against Krombach
2005 WI 170, 286 Wis. 2d 589, 707 N.W.2d 146 (2005)
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ATTORNEY disciplinary
proceeding. Attorney's license
revoked.
¶1 PER CURIAM. Attorney Charles K.
Krombach appeals from the referee's
recommendation that Attorney Krombach's
license to practice law in Wisconsin be
revoked and that he be required to pay
restitution in the amount of $27,135.05.
After our own independent review, we adopt
the referee's findings of fact and
conclusions of law. We also agree that
Attorney Krombach's misconduct necessitates
that his license be revoked, that he pay
restitution, and that he pay the costs of
this proceeding.
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¶2 On January 8, 2004, the Office of
Lawyer Regulation (OLR) filed a five-count
complaint against Attorney Krombach. Count
I alleged that Attorney Krombach's
disbursement of trust account funds to
himself without prior consent of the client
constituted conduct involving dishonesty,
fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in
violation of SCR 20:8.4(c). Count II
alleged a violation of former SCR 20:1.15
(d) by Attorney Krombach's withdrawal of
trust account funds prior to an accounting
and severance of the interests in the trust
account funds. Count III alleged that
Attorney Krombach had violated SCR 22.03(6)
by making misrepresentations to, and
failing to cooperate with, the OLR. Count
IV alleged that Attorney Krombach had
failed to provide a full accounting of
trust funds upon request of his client in
violation of former SCR 20:1.15(b).
Finally, Count V alleged that Attorney
Krombach had violated former SCR 20:1.15(e)
(ii) by making cash withdrawals from his
client trust account instead of writing
checks drawn on that account.
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¶3 Attorney Krombach filed an answer
that admitted the occurrence of many of the
transactions alleged in the complaint,
affirmatively claimed that many of the
transactions were done with the knowledge
and consent of one of the clients and
denied that he had engaged in any
professional misconduct.
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¶4 Richard M. Esenberg was appointed
referee on February 12, 2004. He scheduled
a final hearing on the matter for June 28,
2004. Shortly before the hearing, Attorney
Krombach's counsel withdrew from the case,
with Attorney Krombach's consent, because
Attorney Krombach was no longer able to pay
the fees. Attorney Krombach and the OLR
then entered into a stipulation in which
Attorney Krombach admitted most of the
factual allegations and the five
allegations of misconduct set forth in the
complaint. The stipulation reserved the
issues of restitution and discipline for
further development and argument.
¶5 The referee held a one-day hearing
concerning certain factual issues and the
question of discipline. Following the
hearing, the referee allowed Attorney
Krombach's therapist to submit a letter
concerning his treatment of Attorney
Krombach and he allowed the parties to
submit evidentiary materials and briefs on
the issue of restitution.
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¶6 The referee then issued his report
and recommendation. The referee's report
included detailed findings of fact and
conclusions of law based on the parties'
stipulation and the evidence submitted at
and following the hearing. The voluminous
findings of fact will be summarized below.
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¶7 Charles K. Krombach was admitted to
practice law in Wisconsin in 1977. His
prior disciplinary record includes a
private reprimand. Attorney Krombach's
license was temporarily suspended on April
6, 2005, for failure to cooperate with two
additional investigations. His license has
remained suspended until the date of this
opinion.
¶8 Attorney Krombach began
representing John M. on a personal basis in
1994. John M. was apparently a man of
fairly modest means, although at one point
he did come to own a couple of houses in
Milwaukee, a parcel of land in the Town of
Cedarburg and another parcel out of state.
¶9 In 1997, John M. and his two sons,
John P. and Michael, agreed to develop and
subdivide the Cedarburg parcel. The three
retained Attorney Krombach to form a
limited liability company (LLC) for that
purpose. The LLC borrowed funds from AVCO
Financial Services to pay for development
expenses. Attorney Krombach deposited
$45,610.69 of the AVCO loan proceeds into
his client trust account. On the same day,
Attorney Krombach wrote a trust account
check to himself in the amount of $7565.28,
primarily for John M.'s outstanding
personal attorney fees. The referee
concluded that, although these were LLC
funds that were being used to pay John M.'s
personal attorney fees on other matters, it
appears that the members of the LLC
approved of this payment to Attorney
Krombach. At least, the referee could not
affirmatively conclude that this payment
was unauthorized or improper.
¶10 Beginning shortly thereafter,
Attorney Krombach made a number of
disbursements from the LLC's funds in his
trust account. For example, on August 27,
1997, he wrote a $500 check payable
to "Cash," which he endorsed and cashed the
same day. Attorney Krombach claims that he
delivered this cash along with another
$1000 check to John M. on the same day. He
claims that the cash and the check
represented loans from the LLC to John M.
Although the referee could not conclude
that John M. did not receive the money,
there is no doubt that these disbursements
were unauthorized at the time because the
agreement among the members of the LLC was
that any disbursement of $1000 or more
required the approval of two members.
Attorney Krombach has produced no evidence
that anyone other than John M. approved of
these "loans" at the time they were made.
¶11 During the following months,
Attorney Krombach made a substantial number
of payments to himself out of the LLC trust
funds. The referee found that Attorney
Krombach repeatedly paid himself from LLC
funds on non-LLC matters involving only
John M. personally. Attorney Krombach has
produced no written authorization for these
payments and has not alleged that anyone
other than John M. gave him verbal
authorizations, although John M. did not
have such authority by himself. Indeed,
when Attorney Krombach requested permission
from John P. to pay his father's personal
legal fees out of the LLC's funds, John P.
expressly denied that permission.
¶12 Although these payments to Attorney
Krombach from the trust funds were not
authorized at the time they were made,
there was some evidence that John P. and
Michael, the other LLC members, ratified
these payments after the fact. John P.
acknowledged that he received statements
regarding the use of the trust funds that
would have indicated the amount of these
payments. Although these trust statements
may not have explicitly communicated the
fact that these monies were being used to
pay his father's personal legal fees, John
P. did admit that he knew that his father's
personal legal bills had been paid up to
date as of July 1999, presumably from LLC
trust funds.
¶13 Because Attorney Krombach was
unsuccessful in obtaining governmental
approval to subdivide the Cedarburg parcel,
the LLC members decided to suspend payments
on the AVCO loan, causing the property to
go into foreclosure. By September 1998 the
AVCO loan proceeds had been almost
depleted, with nearly $26,000 of the
original $45,610.69 having been paid to
Attorney Krombach. Ultimately, the LLC was
able to sell the parcel at what Attorney
Krombach described as a "fire sale" price.
¶14 Attorney Krombach produced two
invoices dated July 1, 1999, the date of
the closing for the sale of the Cedarburg
property. The first invoice was in the
amount of $7752.62 and the second was in
the amount of $4082.18. These invoices
were apparently paid out of the proceeds of
the closing.
¶15 After payment of the AVCO loan and
other outstanding expenses, the LLC
received $83,879.48 in proceeds from the
sale, all of which was initially deposited
into Attorney Krombach's trust account.
Attorney Krombach then disbursed $31,915.81
to John P. as guardian for his father. In
addition to the payment of the two invoices
identified above dated July 1, 1999,
Attorney Krombach also wrote himself a
check in the amount of $1963.67 on the date
of closing, although he has never presented
any invoice to justify this payment. The
remaining $50,000 was retained in Attorney
Krombach's general trust account until
August 13, 1999, when the funds were
transferred to a separate money market
trust account controlled by Attorney
Krombach.
¶16 Following the establishment of the
money market account, Attorney Krombach
engaged in a series of improper
transactions. On August 13, 1999, he wrote
a $1000 check to himself out of the money
market account. Although this payment was
allegedly for legal fees, Attorney Krombach
could produce no documentation to show that
he was owed outstanding fees anywhere near
this amount. On August 20, 1999, Attorney
Krombach wrote another check to himself in
the amount of $2000. Although the $1000
and $2000 amounts were later credited
toward fees for services provided to the
LLC, Attorney Krombach's invoices show that
those services were provided almost
entirely after the date of the checks.
¶17 On September 14, 1999, Attorney
Krombach wrote another check drawn on the
money market account for $2000. Although
Attorney Krombach's subsequent accounting
claimed that this was for "JMR cash," the
referee found that no cash was ever given
to John M. at this time. Attorney
Krombach's time entries on his invoice
indicate that John M. requested a personal
loan from the remaining LLC funds at this
time, but that Attorney Krombach denied
his
request. Attorney Krombach's invoice of
October 6, 1999, shows that Attorney
Krombach applied this payment toward fees
allegedly relating to the sale of the
Cedarburg property, although the sale had
been completed more than two months earlier
and the invoice showed a balance due of
only $212.80. The resulting credit balance
of $1787.20 was never repaid or applied to
the LLC's account.
¶18 On October 8, 1999, Attorney
Krombach transferred $5000 from the LLC's
money market account to his trust account
and wrote a check to himself in the amount
of $2000. Attorney Krombach's check stub
falsely shows that this check was voided.
There is no invoice that supports the fees
and it never did appear on any subsequent
billing statement. Attorney Krombach
claimed that the $2000 payment related to a
personal legal matter for John M. regarding
the potential creation of a charter school
(the "school matter"). Attorney Krombach,
however, produced no invoice concerning the
school matter that showed that he was
justified in taking this payment.
Moreover, by this time it was crystal clear
to Attorney Krombach that he was not
authorized to use the LLC funds to pay John
M.'s personal legal fees. Finally, the
documentation provided by Attorney Krombach
shows that he collected nearly $9000 in
legal fees for the school matter, although
he submitted invoices that totaled less
than $2500.
¶19 On October 18, 1999, Attorney
Krombach wrote a check to John M. for $9500
out of the LLC account. Although it
appears that John M. endorsed the check and
retained the money, Attorney Krombach again
misappropriated the LLC funds because he
admittedly had no authority to disburse LLC
funds to John M.
¶20 On November 18, 1999, Attorney
Krombach wrote a $1500 check to himself out
of the LLC funds, which he then converted
to cash. Attorney Krombach asserted to the
OLR that he retained $300 for legal fees
and gave the rest to John M. Attorney
Krombach has no receipt to prove that he
gave the cash to John M. Moreover,
distribution of LLC funds to John M. was
not authorized and distributing trust funds
in the form of cash is improper. Just as
important is the fact that Attorney
Krombach has produced no invoice that
supported the $300 payment to himself.
¶21 On December 15 and 30, 1999,
Attorney Krombach wrote himself checks for
$2500 and $1500, respectively. Again, he
claims to have given $2000 in cash to John
M., but has no receipts to prove that this
occurred on either occasion. Attorney
Krombach also has no invoices showing that
either John M. or the LLC owed him $2000 in
fees at this time. He has no documentation
showing that these amounts were credited
against any subsequent fees.
¶22 The check dated December 30, 1999,
raises another issue. The copy of the
check received from the bank contains the
notation "fees" on the memo line. On the
copy that Attorney Krombach produced to the
OLR during its investigation, Attorney
Krombach added the words "& cash for JMR."
¶23 With respect to the time period
described above, Attorney Krombach
repeatedly asserted that he was acting with
the consent of John M., who Attorney
Krombach believed was the person that
should have been in charge. For instance,
when asked at one point why he gave LLC
funds to John M., Attorney Krombach
responded that he had done so "[b]ecause it
was his money, it was his land, and because
he asked me to." As the referee notes,
Attorney Krombach, as an experienced
attorney, knew that John M. had transferred
the land to the LLC, which meant that the
loan and sale proceeds were the LLC's
property. Attorney Krombach knew that the
required number of LLC members did not
authorize such payments to John M.
Moreover, there is testimony that John M.
was an active alcoholic for much of this
time period. Thus, Attorney Krombach's
reliance on his lone consent is certainly
misplaced. In addition, giving large
amounts of cash to an active alcoholic
without disclosing that fact to his sons
and fellow LLC members is certainly not a
wise course of action. In response,
Attorney Krombach claimed that he was
unaware of John M.'s alcoholism, which the
referee found to be simply unbelievable.
¶24 John M. died on January 11, 2000.
John P. informed Attorney Krombach of that
fact on the same day. At that point, just
six months after the sale of the Cedarburg
property, the $50,000 in sales proceeds
under Attorney Krombach's control had
dwindled to $12,700.
¶25 On January 14, 2000, Attorney
Krombach wrote himself a check out of the
LLC funds in the amount of $5000. He
claimed to the OLR that he retained $1500
for legal fees and gave $3500 in cash to
John M. To support this assertion,
Attorney Krombach backdated both his
accounting to the OLR and his check stubs
to show that the payment had been made on
January 3, 2000, rather than on January 14,
2000. The bank records demonstrate that
this was false. Moreover, at the time the
check was negotiated, the memo line was
blank. On the copy that Attorney Krombach
gave to the OLR, he had added the
words "fees & cash."
¶26 The referee found that Attorney
Krombach fraudulently altered the check and
his records in an attempt to hide the fact
that he could not have given cash to John
M. three days after his death. As the
referee notes, Attorney Krombach's post-hoc
alteration of these documents casts doubt
on all of the other instances in which
Attorney Krombach claims that he gave cash
to John M. Moreover, even if Attorney
Krombach's story had been true, giving cash
to John M. out of the LLC funds was
contrary to the explicit directions of the
LLC.
¶27 On February 15, 2000, Attorney
Krombach wrote another check to himself,
this time in the amount of $2000. While
the accounting that Attorney Krombach gave
to the OLR said that this was payment for
legal fees, the bank's copy of the check
indicated that it was for a "loan" to
Attorney Krombach. Attorney Krombach
altered the copy of the check he gave to
the OLR by putting a question mark
after "loan," apparently in an attempt to
make it seem that the payment could have
been for fees. Attorney Krombach produced
no invoice or billing statement showing
either (1) that this amount was owed by
John M. or the LLC at the time or (2) that
this amount was credited against subsequent
fees.
¶28 On March 4, 2000, Attorney Krombach
wrote himself yet another check in the
amount of $3000. Attorney Krombach again
altered the copy of the check that he
produced to the OLR to indicate that this
payment related to the school matter.
There is no invoice, however, that shows
any fees due on that matter or any
subsequent billing statement showing that
it was ever credited against any account.
Moreover, Attorney Krombach's own computer
account history shows that he received no
fees on the school matter after December
30, 1999.
¶29 On March 27, 2000, Attorney
Krombach wrote a check for $1000 to
himself. The copy of the check provided to
the OLR was again altered to reflect that
the money related to fees on the school
matter. The check stub contained notations
that the payment could have been either for
a loan to Attorney Krombach or for fees on
the school matter. No loan to Attorney
Krombach was ever authorized and it could
not have related to fees earned on the
school matter.
¶30 On April 15, 2000, Attorney
Krombach wrote yet one more check from the
LLC funds in the amount of $1700, leaving
only $2.91 in the LLC's money market
account. Attorney Krombach asserted that
this amount was in payment of several
charges on an invoice of April 14, 2000.
One charged $625 to John M.'s estate,
although it was never sent to John M.'s
personal representative and Attorney
Krombach was never authorized to provide
legal services to the estate. The invoice
also included charges for Attorney
Krombach's attendance at John M.'s funeral
and for sending flowers. Another shows a
fee of $470.54 for a real estate matter
that had occurred many years before. The
invoice also included an unspecified charge
of $846.47 to the LLC, but did not identify
the nature of the work performed. The
referee noted that the LLC was not engaged
in any activity at this time that would
have required legal services.
¶31 Finally, Attorney Krombach included
a charge of $6126 on the invoice of April
14, 2000, which represented a retroactive
increase in Attorney Krombach's hourly rate
from $125 to $150 per hour. Although
Attorney Krombach claims that John M. had
previously authorized this retroactive rate
change, the referee found this assertion to
be incredible. Moreover, even if John M.
had in fact made such a statement, John M.
had no authority, by himself, to agree to a
retroactive rate change on behalf of the
LLC.
¶32 As noted above, Attorney Krombach
was never retained by John M.'s estate to
perform any legal services. Instead, John
P. hired Attorney Judith Bostetter to
handle his father's estate. When Attorney
Bostetter on two occasions wrote to
Attorney Krombach inquiring about estate
assets in his possession, he did not
reply. Finally, several months later,
Attorney Krombach telephoned Attorney
Bostetter and told her that there was "no
money left." Indeed, he claimed that the
estate owed him money, but that he was
willing to forgive that debt. Although
John P. and Attorney Bostetter asked for an
accounting, Attorney Krombach never
provided one, causing John M.'s estate to
remain open.
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¶33 Based upon Attorney Krombach's
stipulation and the factual findings
detailed above, the referee concluded that
Attorney Krombach had engaged in
professional misconduct as alleged in each
of the five counts contained in the OLR's
complaint.
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¶34 The referee concluded that Attorney
Krombach's multiple disbursements to
himself of trust account funds, without the
prior knowledge or consent of the
respective clients, constituted conversion
of client funds to Attorney Krombach's own
personal use. Moreover, Attorney Krombach
failed to disclose and pay to John M.'s
estate the trust account funds that
Attorney Krombach held at the time of John
M.'s death, but instead took them for his
personal use. As alleged in Count I, these
actions by Attorney Krombach constituted
conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit
or misrepresentation in violation of SCR
20:8.4(c).
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¶35 The referee concluded that Attorney
Krombach had violated former SCR 20:1.15(d)
by withdrawing funds from his client trust
account for alleged legal fees without the
clients' prior knowledge or consent.
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¶36 The referee further found that
Attorney Krombach had made false and
misleading representations to the OLR, had
provided inaccurate accountings, and had
altered copies of canceled checks that he
produced to the OLR. The referee concluded
that Attorney Krombach's willful conduct of
failing to provide relevant and full
information to the OLR and his intentional
misrepresentations to the OLR violated SCR
22.03(6).
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¶37 As alleged in Count IV, the referee
determined that by failing to provide
accountings as requested by John P. and by
the attorney for John M.'s estate, Attorney
Krombach had failed to render a full
accounting of trust funds upon request of
the client or third person in violation of
former SCR 20:1.15(b).
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¶38 Finally, the referee concluded that
Attorney Krombach's multiple disbursements
of cash from trust account funds violated
former SCR 20:1.15(e)(ii), which requires
that all trust account disbursements be
made by check.
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¶39 The referee noted that, even in
cases where an attorney has stolen funds
from a client, the assessment of the level
of discipline to be imposed requires an
analysis of the particular facts of the
case. In conducting this assessment,
however, it is important to note that
clients that are vulnerable especially
require protection from those who abuse
their professional position to enrich
themselves. See In re Disciplinary
Proceedings Against Gilbert, 227 Wis. 2d
444, 474, 595 N.W.2d 715 (1999).
¶40 One area of major concern for the
referee was Attorney Krombach's intent.
Although Attorney Krombach acted in
violation of former SCR 20:1.15 in
disbursing LLC funds to himself prior to
the property sale in July 1999, the referee
concluded that Attorney Krombach was
generally able to substantiate that the
monies he paid to himself during that time
period were for fees that Attorney Krombach
actually earned for work on behalf of
either the LLC or John M. personally.
Moreover, although the referee concluded
that neither John P. nor Michael had ever
clearly "signed off" on an accounting for
these funds, there was not clear and
satisfactory evidence that would support a
finding that a majority of the LLC members
never acquiesced in these payments. Thus,
while Attorney Krombach had failed to treat
the funds as trust account funds until an
agreed-upon severance of his clients'
interests, in violation of former SCR
20:1.15(d), it does not appear that he
stole these pre-sale funds without his
clients' knowledge.
¶41 The referee reached an entirely
different conclusion concerning Attorney
Krombach's intent after the July 1999 sale
of the Cedarburg property. From this point
forward the referee concluded that Attorney
Krombach in many instances was simply
stealing the LLC's money. Attorney
Krombach was unable to produce invoices or
other documentation to justify his payments
to himself or his purported disbursements
to John M. Moreover, Attorney Krombach's
alteration of documents and his "shifting
explanations" for these payments indicate
that Attorney Krombach was simply
converting his clients' money for his own
personal needs.
¶42 The referee concluded that Attorney
Krombach's reliance on alleged oral
authorizations by John M. was further
evidence of Attorney Krombach's wrongful
intent. By this time John M. was suffering
from active alcoholism, such that his son
was appointed to act as his guardian.
Thus, Attorney Krombach's own statements,
even if true, would indicate that he was
manipulating a vulnerable client to cover
his taking of funds.
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¶43 Furthermore, the referee notes that
even Attorney Krombach's excuse of oral
consent from John M. cannot cover the
taking of nearly $12,700 that occurred
after John M.'s death. Instead, Attorney
Krombach attempted to hide what he had done
by altering documents and making up the
incredible story that John M. had agreed to
a retroactive increase in Attorney
Krombach's hourly rate. In sum, as the
referee noted, "what may have begun as
sloppiness and poor judgment eventually
became outright theft."
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¶44 In addition to the items described
above (manipulation of a vulnerable client
and alteration of documents to mislead the
OLR), the referee found other aggravating
factors that support a more serious level
of discipline. The amount of money taken
by Attorney Krombach was substantial,
especially in light of the limited finances
of his clients. Moreover, Attorney
Krombach, despite expressing an intent to
reimburse what he took, has not made any
attempt to pay back anything. The referee
found that, although Attorney Krombach has
stipulated to wrongdoing and has admitted
regret, he still has not demonstrated an
understanding that what he did was steal
from his clients. Although he has no
documentation to support many of the
payments to himself, he continued to
express the idea that his mistakes were due
to sloppy practices, including his practice
to "round off" his legal fees. Moreover,
his restitution brief to the referee seemed
to indicate that, at the end of the day, he
owed his clients nothing. This does not
demonstrate an acceptance of responsibility.
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¶45 On the mitigating side, the referee
found that, as of the date of his report,
Attorney Krombach had received only one
private reprimand during a fairly lengthy
career. Attorney Krombach's history with
John M., the informal, family nature of the
business venture and the apparent
acquiescence of John P. and Michael in the
manner of paying John M.'s personal legal
fees out of LLC funds may mitigate to some
degree Attorney Krombach's disbursements of
trust account funds prior to the property
sale in July 1999. Those factors cease to
explain Attorney Krombach's conduct after
the sale. Finally, the referee noted that
Attorney Krombach had been receiving
treatment for depression from 1997 through
1999 and from May 2003 through the
present. Nonetheless, the referee refused
to consider this as a mitigating factor
because Attorney Krombach produced no
evidence that the depression caused his
misconduct.
¶46 After reviewing all of the relevant
factors, the referee concluded that even a
lengthy suspension would not do justice to
the theft of client funds from a vulnerable
man. In the opinion of the referee,
revocation is required in light of Attorney
Krombach's falsifying records produced to
the OLR, his lying about his knowledge of
John M.'s alcoholism, and his brazen theft
of money from a vulnerable man of modest
means.
¶47 As noted above, subsequent to the
submission of the parties' stipulation and
the evidentiary hearing, the referee
invited the parties to submit memoranda
concerning the proper amount of restitution
to be paid. Attorney Krombach submitted a
restitution memorandum that admitted
restitution was proper only as to the
$12,700 taken after John M.'s death. Even
as to this amount, Attorney Krombach
claimed that it was subject to an offset
for his claims against John M.'s estate.
Needless to say, the referee found Attorney
Krombach's restitution memorandum to be
unhelpful. The memorandum failed to tie
billings and receipts and to justify the
fees that Attorney Krombach allegedly
claims he was due. In the end, the referee
simply found that he could draw no
conclusions from Attorney Krombach's
restitution memorandum.
¶48 Based on his own analysis, the
referee concluded, as the OLR had
recommended, that Attorney Krombach should
be required to pay restitution for amounts
that he took that were not justified by an
invoice for legal fees or a receipt from
John M. This had the effect of eliminating
from the restitution amount a large number
of payments that Attorney Krombach had made
to himself prior to the July 1999 sale even
though those payments had been made from
LLC funds without authorization by the
LLC. To reach a restitution total, the
referee analyzed the bills actually
submitted by Attorney Krombach and compared
them to the payments he received.
¶49 The referee concluded that the
OLR's schedule of improper payments closely
followed his conclusions with a few
modifications. The OLR's schedule called
for restitution in the amount of
$33,632.25. The referee's modifications
eliminated three payments, although still
violations of former SCR 20:1.15, because
Attorney Krombach had ultimately produced
invoices showing legal services against
which the payments were credited. The
three eliminated payments reduced the
restitution amount by $7993.74. The
referee, however, also added a restitution
amount of $1496.54 not shown on the OLR's
schedule because that amount was never
supported by an invoice that showed what
work had been done to earn it. These
adjustments resulted in a recommended
restitution amount of $27,135.05.
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¶50 Attorney Krombach has appealed from
the referee's recommendation that his
license to practice law be revoked. Before
we turn to his arguments on appeal, we note
that Attorney Krombach has not appealed any
of the referee's factual findings or
conclusions of law. He also has not
appealed from the referee's restitution
recommendation. Consequently, after our
review of the matter, we adopt the
referee's findings of fact and conclusions
of law as to Attorney Krombach's
misconduct. See In re Disciplinary
Proceedings Against Sosnay, 209 Wis. 2d
241, 243, 562 N.W.2d 137 (1997) (referee's
findings of fact to be affirmed unless
clearly erroneous); In re Disciplinary
Proceedings Against Carroll, 2001 WI 130,
¶29, 248 Wis. 2d 662, 636 N.W.2d 718
(referee's conclusions of law subject to de
novo review). We also agree that Attorney
Krombach should pay restitution in the
amount of $27,135.05.
¶51 Although Krombach does not argue on
appeal that any of the referee's factual
findings are clearly erroneous, he
nonetheless sets forth from his point of
view a factual recitation of the history of
his representation of John M. and the LLC.
His recitation continues to give the
appearance that his conduct was due simply
to relying on the informal manner in which
he and John M. allegedly operated.
¶52 Many of the assertions in his
factual statement, however, were expressly
rejected by the referee. For example,
Attorney Krombach claims that periodic
accountings were provided to the LLC
members, which were "satisfactory for their
purposes at the time." Attorney Krombach
also asserts that with respect to
disbursements after the July 1999 property
sale, "[v]erbal authorization was obtained
comparable to written authorization
applicable to the AVCO funds." This
ignores the fact that Attorney Krombach did
not have written authorization on most
occasions to disburse trust account funds
from the AVCO loan to himself prior to the
sale and that John M. had no authority, by
himself, to allow disbursements after the
sale. In addition, although the referee
found his claim to be false, Attorney
Krombach continues to assert that John M.
authorized a retroactive change in Attorney
Krombach's billing rates that he did not
effectuate until months after John M.'s
death.
¶53 Ordinarily, since Attorney Krombach
is not challenging the referee's factual
findings, we would ignore his factual
recitation. We feel constrained to discuss
it in this case, however, because it bears
on the level of discipline to be imposed.
Attorney Krombach's statements show that he
still refuses to accept that what he did
was wrong. Despite overwhelming evidence
and his own stipulation to ethical
violations, he continues to make excuses
for his conduct.
¶54 The primary thrust of Attorney
Krombach's argument is that the referee's
recommendation of revocation is simply too
severe. Although he provides no citations
to the record, Attorney Krombach challenges
a number of statements in the referee's
report and claims that the referee
incorrectly viewed certain aspects of his
case in reaching his recommendation.
¶55 Attorney Krombach first alleges
that the referee improperly ignored
mitigating factors. Attorney Krombach
asserts that he chose to terminate his
legal counsel allegedly in order to
conserve funds for payment of restitution.
He claims that the referee, however,
imputed a negative connotation to the
termination of his attorney's services.
Attorney Krombach also asserts that
he "eventually" cooperated with the OLR and
produced, allegedly at a significant
expense, voluminous records extending all
the way back to 1993. He blames the OLR's
staff for seeking such wide-ranging
documents, viewing the allegations in the
complaint as related only to the July 1999
property sale. Attorney Krombach further
takes the referee to task for ignoring the
contents of the report submitted by
Attorney Krombach's therapist and instead
focusing on the fact that the report showed
that Attorney Krombach had not admitted
wrongdoing even to his therapist. Finally,
Attorney Krombach asserts that he has in
fact personally expressed remorse and
contrition.
¶56 We have reviewed Attorney
Krombach's arguments in this regard and
find them to be without substantial merit.
The referee's comments were reasonable in
light of the facts of the case. Attorney
Krombach has not challenged those factual
findings. The referee properly considered
many factors in his reaching his
recommendation. We do not find fault with
his analysis. Moreover, it is the
responsibility of this court to impose
whatever sanction it deems appropriate
regardless of the referee's
recommendation. See In re
Disciplinary Proceedings Against Ray,
2004 WI 45, ¶5, 270 Wis. 2d 651, 678 N.W.2d
246.
¶57 In addition to his criticism of the
referee and the OLR, Attorney Krombach
cites to several cases that he claims
support his request for a lesser sanction.
The cases he cites, however, are readily
distinguishable from the misconduct at
issue here.
¶58 First, Attorney Krombach points to
In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against
Marine, 82 Wis. 2d 602, 611-12, 264
N.W.2d 285 (1978), in which the court
imposed a six-month suspension. That case,
however, involved a single instance where
the attorney had transferred $2500 in trust
funds to himself to pay for legal fees.
Although the court found that the total fee
had been excessive, it was clear that the
attorney had performed a substantial amount
of work to earn the great majority of the
total fee. This scenario has no relation
to Attorney Krombach's longstanding pattern
of theft from a vulnerable client.
¶59 Attorney Krombach's reliance on
In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against
Theobald, 2004 WI 59, 271 Wis. 2d 690,
679 N.W.2d 804, is equally misplaced.
Attorney Theobald's misconduct was light
years away from the referee's findings
here. Attorney Theobald's misconduct
consisted of a number of instances of
failing to inform clients of the status of
their matters, improperly delaying the
return of a client's file, and failing to
cooperate promptly with the OLR's
investigation. In comparison, Attorney
Krombach's misconduct includes theft of
client funds for personal gain and altering
documents produced to the OLR in order to
hide his theft.
¶60 The ninety-day suspension of In
re Disciplinary Proceedings Against
Schuster, 2003 WI 135, 266 Wis. 2d 36,
670 N.W.2d 545, rested on misconduct
significantly less egregious than Attorney
Krombach's actions. In that case, Attorney
Schuster stipulated that she commingled
personal funds with client funds, wrote
checks on her client trust account when she
did not have sufficient funds on deposit to
cover them, and wrote checks payable to
herself or to "cash" without determining
the clients to whom the funds were
attributable. Id., ¶5. She also
failed to maintain proper trust account
records, improperly withdrew from a
representation in a manner that prejudiced
the client's interests, and made
misrepresentations to the OLR. Id.,
¶¶5, 17. Unlike Attorney Krombach's
conduct, however, there is no indication
that Attorney Schuster profited from her
wrongdoing. She also rectified matters
when the OLR brought them to her attention
(although in a belated fashion). Here,
Attorney Krombach's conduct consisted of
many instances of conversion of client
funds over a long period of time, involved
the taking of nearly $30,000 from an
alcoholic client, and has not resulted in
any attempt to repay the misappropriated
funds.
¶61 The facts of In re Disciplinary
Proceedings Against Webster, 217 Wis. 2d
371, 577 N.W.2d 21 (1998) (two-year
suspension), are also different from the
present case. In that case, Attorney
Webster participated in concealing a
debtor's property from a bankruptcy trustee
and was found to have given false testimony
during his criminal trial. Id. at 374-
75. The OLR stipulated to a number of
mitigating factors in Attorney Webster's
favor: the client's creditors had not
suffered due to the bankruptcy fraud,
Webster did not gain any personal benefit,
Webster had a history of helping civic and
charitable groups, and he had fully
cooperated with the investigation of the
Board of Attorneys Professional
Responsibility. Id. at 376. Again,
the factual differences include Attorney
Krombach's theft of funds for his personal
use, the substantial harm to his clients,
and his misrepresentations to the OLR.
¶62 Although each case turns on its
specific facts, in many instances we have
revoked the licenses of attorneys that have
converted client funds to their own
personal use. See, e.g., In re
Disciplinary Proceedings Against O'Byrne,
2002 WI 123, 257 Wis. 2d 8, 653 N.W.2d 111
(revocation imposed where attorney
converted nearly $34,000 of client funds
and altered checks produced to the OLR);
In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against
Hinnawi, 202 Wis. 2d 113, 549 N.W.2d 245
(1996) (revocation imposed where attorney
converted substantial client funds while
serving as personal representative and
attorney for estate); In re Disciplinary
Proceedings Against Wright, 180 Wis. 2d
492, 509 N.W.2d 290 (1994) (attorney's use
of her professional position to take client
money for herself warranted license
revocation, even where attorney had no
prior disciplinary history).
¶63 Given Attorney Krombach's extended
pattern of converting large sums of the
LLC's money for his own personal use, his
alteration of documents in an attempt to
hide his theft, his taking advantage of a
vulnerable client, and his continued
failure to demonstrate acceptance of
responsibility for his wrongful actions, we
agree with the referee's recommendation
that Attorney Krombach's license to
practice law must be revoked. We further
agree that Attorney Krombach should be
ordered to pay restitution in the amount of
$27,135.05 and that he should pay the costs
of this proceeding, which were $10,193.18
as of October 12, 2005.
¶64 IT IS ORDERED that the license of
Charles K. Krombach to practice law in
Wisconsin is revoked effective the date of
this order.
¶65 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Charles
K. Krombach comply with the provisions of
SCR 22.26 concerning the duties of a person
whose license to practice law in Wisconsin
has been revoked.
¶66 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within
60 days of the date of this order, Charles
K. Krombach make restitution to the LLC or
its members in the amount of $27,135.05.
¶67 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within
60 days of the date of this order Charles
K. Krombach pay to the Office of Lawyer
Regulation the costs of this proceeding.
¶68 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that
restitution to the LLC or its members is to
be paid prior to paying costs to the Office
of Lawyer Regulation.
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