Disciplinary Proceedings Against Capistrant
2021 WI46, 05/25/2021 (2021)
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ATTORNEY disciplinary proceeding.
Attorney's license suspended.
¶1 PER CURIAM. This is a reciprocal
discipline matter. On June 12, 2020, the
Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) filed a
complaint and motion pursuant to Supreme
Court Rule (SCR) 22.22, asking this court to
suspend Attorney Joseph M. Capistrant's
license to practice law in Wisconsin for a
period of 60 days, as discipline reciprocal
to that imposed by the Supreme Court of
Minnesota, yet consistent with Supreme Court
of Wisconsin precedent and to order Attorney
Capistrant to pay restitution of $547 to his
client. Upon careful review, we agree that
it is appropriate to suspend Attorney
Capistrant's law license for a period of 60
days. Since this matter did not require
submission to a referee, we impose no costs.
¶2 Attorney Capistrant was admitted to
practice law in Wisconsin in 2007. He was
admitted to practice law in Minnesota in
1987. The most recent address Attorney
Capistrant has furnished to the State Bar of
Wisconsin is in Osseo, Minnesota. Attorney
Capistrant's Wisconsin law license has been
administratively suspended since June 12,
2012 for failure to comply with Wisconsin
continuing legal education requirements and
since October 31, 2012 for failure to pay
state bar dues and file a trust account
certification.
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¶3 In 2015, this court suspended
Attorney Capistrant's law license for 90
days. In re Disciplinary Proceedings
Against Capistrant, 2015 WI 88, 364 Wis.
2d
530, 868 N.W.2d 595. He has not been
reinstated from that disciplinary
suspension.
¶4 On March 14, 2017, the Minnesota
Office of Lawyers Professional
Responsibility (OLPR) petitioned the Supreme
Court of Minnesota to discipline Attorney
Capistrant. In 2014, D.Y. hired Attorney
Capistrant to probate his son's estate and
make changes to some family documents. D.Y.
paid Attorney Capistrant $547 for expected
expenses. Attorney Capistrant did not
deposit the money into his trust account,
did not use the funds toward their intended
purpose, and did not file the probate
action. Attorney Capistrant also did not
respond to D.Y. or his daughter's
communications about the matter, did not
refund the $547, and did not respond to the
OLPR's attempt to investigate his client's
grievance.
¶5 On January 10, 2018, the Supreme
Court of Minnesota disbarred Attorney
Capistrant. Attorney Capistrant did not
inform the OLR of the 2018 Minnesota
disbarment within 20 days. The OLR's
complaint averred that the OLR's director
determined that Wisconsin precedent
justifies a 60-day suspension of Attorney
Capistrant's Wisconsin Law license.
¶6 On November 10, 2020, this court
directed Attorney Capistrant to inform the
court in writing within 20 days of any claim
by him that the imposition of reciprocal
discipline, as requested in the OLR's
complaint, would be unwarranted. Attorney
Capistrant did not file a response.
¶7 On February 24, 2021, this court
directed the parties to inform the court in
more detail why a 60-day suspension, rather
than revocation, which would be comparable
to the sanction imposed in Minnesota, would
be an appropriate level of discipline. The
OLR filed a response on March 17, 2021.
¶8 The OLR's response states that
Minnesota's disciplinary system uses a
different method of "counts" and rule
violations than does Wisconsin. The OLR
explains that in Minnesota, the misconduct
related to Attorney Capistrant's handling of
the D.Y. matter is one count, and his non-
cooperation is another count. The OLR says
within these counts, the Minnesota action
combined multiple violations into one
unofficial sub-count. The OLR explains that
it determined that the equivalent Wisconsin
counts would be as follows:
• By misappropriating D.Y.'s $547,
Attorney Capistrant violated SCR 20:8.4(c).
• By failing to deposit D.Y.'s
advanced fee payment of $547 into his trust
account, Attorney Capistrant violated SCR
20:1.15(b)(1).
• By failing to file the D.Y. probate
matter and pay related expenses, Attorney
Capistrant violated SCR 20:1.3.
• By failing to keep D.Y. reasonably
informed of the probate matter's status and
failing to respond to his client's
reasonable requests for information,
Attorney Capistrant violated SCR 20:1.4(a)
(3) and SCR 20:1.4(a)(4).
• By failing to respond to D.Y.'s
grievance and the OLPR's requests for
information, Attorney Capistrant violated
SCR 22.03(2) and SCR 22.03(6), enforceable
via SCR 20:8.4(c).
¶9 The OLR states that the Minnesota
discipline was at heart a one-client matter
and the amount of converted funds was
relatively low at $547. The OLR cites a
number of cases in which this court has
previously suspended attorneys for 60 days
for similar misconduct.
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¶10 Under our rules and precedent, this
court shall impose the identical discipline
imposed by another jurisdiction unless one
or more of the enumerated exceptions in SCR
22.22(3) is shown. One of the exceptions is
that the misconduct justifies substantially
different discipline in this state. See
SCR
22.22(3)(c). Upon careful review of this
matter and particularly after reviewing the
OLR's response to this court's February 24,
2021 order, we agree that if this case had
been prosecuted by the OLR, a 60-day
suspension of Attorney Capistrant's license
would have been the likely outcome.
¶11 Although no two disciplinary
proceedings are identical, we find the
misconduct at issue here somewhat analogous
to the misconduct at issue in In re
Disciplinary Proceedings Against Bartz,
2015
WI 61, 362 Wis. 2d 752, 864 N.W.2d 881. The
attorney in that case was suspended for 60
days for converting $3,271 in settlement
proceeds that he was supposed to hold in
trust and in failing to inform his client of
an administrative suspension. In addition,
we find this case somewhat analogous to In
re Disciplinary Proceedings Against
Sarbacker, 2017 WI 86, 377 Wis. 2d 484,
901
N.W.2d 373. Attorney Sarbacker was
suspended for 60 days for dispersing a
client's fund to himself, having no written
fee agreement, failing to timely respond to
the grievance filed against him, and
pleading guilty to an unrelated misdemeanor.
Based on these somewhat similar cases, we
agree with the OLR that the misconduct at
issue here justifies substantially different
discipline than that imposed by the Supreme
Court of Minnesota.
¶12 We agree with the OLR that Attorney
Capistrant should be required to make
restitution to D.Y. in the amount of $547.
Since this matter was resolved without the
appointment of a referee, we impose no
costs.
¶13 IT IS ORDERED that the license of
Joseph M. Capistrant to practice law in
Wisconsin is suspended for a period of 60
days, effective the date of this order.
¶14 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that within
60 days of the date of this order, Joseph M.
Capistrant shall make restitution to D.Y. in
the amount of $547.
¶15 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, to the
extent he has not already done so, Joseph M.
Capistrant shall comply with the provisions
of SCR 22.26 concerning the duties of a
person whose license to practice law in
Wisconsin has been suspended.
¶16 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that
compliance with all conditions of this order
are required for reinstatement. See SCR
22.28(2).
¶17 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the
administrative suspension of Joseph M.
Capistrant's license to practice law due to
his failure to comply with continuing legal
education requirements and failure to pay
state bar dues and comply with trust account
certification requirements shall remain in
effect until each reason for the
administrative suspension has been
rectified, pursuant to SCR 22.28(1).
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