Disciplinary Proceedings Against Stoltman
2018 WI 91, 7/24/18 (2018)
|
ATTORNEY disciplinary proceeding.
Attorney
publicly reprimanded.
¶1 PER CURIAM. The Office of Lawyer
Regulation (OLR) and Attorney Stephanie C.
Stoltman have filed a stipulation pursuant
to Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 22.12 that
Attorney Stoltman should be publicly
reprimanded, as discipline reciprocal to
that imposed by the Supreme Court of
Arizona. After reviewing the matter, we
approve the stipulation and impose the
stipulated reciprocal discipline. Given the
comprehensive stipulation, which avoided the
need to litigate this matter and to appoint
a referee, we do not impose any costs in
this proceeding.
|
|
|
¶2 Attorney Stoltman was admitted to
the practice of law in Wisconsin in 1984 and
in Arizona in 2001. Her Wisconsin license
has been administratively suspended since
October 31, 2005, for failure to pay bar
dues and assessments. She has most recently
practiced law in Arizona.
¶3 The OLR filed a complaint and order
to answer in this matter on May 1, 2018.
The complaint alleged two counts of
professional misconduct: (1) that by virtue
of a 2010 censure and a 2017 admonition
imposed by the disciplinary authorities in
Arizona, Attorney Stoltman was subject to
reciprocal discipline in this state,
pursuant to SCR 22.22(3), and (2) that
Attorney Stoltman had failed to notify the
OLR of either Arizona discipline within the
required time, in violation of SCR 22.22(1).
¶4 On May 24, 2018, before a referee
was appointed, the OLR and Attorney Stoltman
filed a stipulation, in which Attorney
Stoltman stipulated to the two counts set
forth in the OLR's complaint. The OLR filed
a memorandum in support of the stipulation.
|
|
|
¶5 The parties assert that the
stipulation was not the result of plea
bargaining. In the stipulation Attorney
Stoltman states that she does not contest
the factual assertions and misconduct
charges alleged by the OLR nor does she
contest the discipline requested by the OLR,
namely a public reprimand. She represents
that she fully understands the allegations
of misconduct alleged by the OLR; that she
understands the ramifications of the
stipulated level of discipline; that she
understands her right to contest the
allegations of misconduct and her right to
consult counsel regarding those allegations;
and that she enters the stipulation
knowingly and voluntarily.
¶6 In reciprocal discipline situations,
SCR 22.22 mandates that this court impose
discipline identical to that imposed by the
other jurisdiction, unless one or more of
three exceptions apply. In the stipulation
Attorney Stoltman states that she is not
claiming that any exception in SCR 22.22(3)
applies to this matter.
¶7 We turn now to the substance of the
misconduct and the discipline imposed in the
State of Arizona. This reciprocal
disciplinary proceeding relates to two
instances where discipline was imposed on
Attorney Stoltman in Arizona.
|
|
|
¶8 The first instance of discipline was
a censure imposed by the Supreme Court of
Arizona in January 2010, based on Attorney
Stoltman's stipulation. The conduct
underlying this discipline involved Attorney
Stoltman's improper handling of her client
trust account. The disciplinary authorities
determined that she had failed to maintain
proper trust account records and that she
had made a number of improper disbursements
in excess of the funds in her trust account
for particular clients, resulting in the
conversion of funds belonging to other
clients, in violation of ER 1.15 of the
Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct. The
improper disbursements resulted in a
shortfall of slightly more than $1,000 in
her client trust account. The disciplinary
authorities, however, determined that the
improper disbursements and accounting errors
had been negligent, not intentional, and
that Attorney Stoltman had not intended to
keep funds that did not belong to her. In
addition to censuring Attorney Stoltman for
her misconduct, the Supreme Court of Arizona
also placed her on probation with a series
of conditions for a period of one year (from
January 2010 to January 2011).
|
|
|
¶9 The second instance of discipline
was an admonition imposed on Attorney
Stoltman in August 2017 by the Arizona
Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee
(the Arizona Discipline Committee). This
admonition arose from Attorney Stoltman's
conduct as a court-appointed arbitrator in a
particular matter. Attorney Stoltman
conducted an arbitration hearing, but she
failed to prepare a decision and order based
on the hearing. The appointing court
ordered her to show cause why she had failed
to prepare a decision and order, but she did
not appear at the hearing. The Arizona
Discipline Committee concluded that her
failure to perform her duties as an
arbitrator had violated ER 8.4(d) of the
Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct, which
prohibits an attorney from engaging in
conduct prejudicial to the administration of
justice. In addition to imposing the
admonition, the Arizona Discipline Committee
placed Attorney Stoltman on probation for a
period of 18 months, beginning in August or
September 2017 (starting at the time the
order of admonition was served on Attorney
Stoltman).
|
|
|
¶10 In the parties' stipulation in this
court and the supporting memorandum filed by
the OLR, the parties acknowledge that
Attorney Stoltman is subject to the
imposition of reciprocal discipline in this
state by virtue of the two instances of
discipline imposed in Arizona. The OLR asks
this court to impose a public reprimand as
the appropriate reciprocal discipline. It
contends that the Arizona censure is
analogous to a public reprimand in this
state and that the admonition is analogous
to a private reprimand. It correctly notes
that in a similar situation where this court
became aware of two public reprimands in
another jurisdiction well after they had
been imposed, this court publicly
reprimanded the attorney in a single
proceeding, while noting that there had been
two reprimands in the other jurisdiction.
See In re Disciplinary Proceedings
Against
Omdahl, 2010 WI 3, 322 Wis. 2d 92, 777
N.W.2d 634, reconsideration denied, 2010
WI
18, 324 Wis. 2d 1, 781 N.W.2d 228 (publicly
reprimanding Attorney Omdahl as reciprocal
discipline for two public reprimands imposed
by the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board).
We agree that the proper way to effectuate
the reciprocal discipline mandate of SCR
22.22(3) in this instance is to impose a
single public reprimand of Attorney Stoltman
that encompasses both of the Arizona
disciplinary actions.
¶11 There is another matter beyond the
imposition of a public reprimand that must
be addressed. In both instances of
discipline, the Arizona disciplinary orders
placed Attorney Stoltman on probation and
required her to comply with certain terms of
probation. The one-year period of probation
imposed by the 2010 order of the Supreme
Court of Arizona has long since expired so
we do not address that here. See In
re
Disciplinary Proceedings Against Eichhorn-
Hicks, 2012 WI 18, ¶10 n.3, 338 Wis. 2d
753,
809 N.W.2d 379 (declining to order attorney
to comply with portion of disciplinary order
in other jurisdiction that imposed period of
probation because the probationary period
had already expired). The 18-month period
of probation imposed by the 2017 order of
admonition imposed by the Arizona Discipline
Committee, however, remains in effect as of
the date of this decision. In similar
situations, where the other jurisdiction has
imposed a form of discipline that this court
does not impose, such as probation, we have
ordered the respondent attorney to comply
with the terms and conditions of the
disciplinary order in the other
jurisdiction. See, e.g., In re
Disciplinary
Proceedings Against Gillette, 2017 WI 48,
¶¶14-17, 375 Wis. 2d 112, 895 N.W.2d 1; In
re Disciplinary Proceedings Against
Hooker,
2010 WI 13, ¶11, 322 Wis. 2d 552, 779 N.W.2d
419; In re Disciplinary Proceedings
Against
Moree, 2004 WI 118, 275 Wis. 2d 279, 684
N.W.2d 667. We will do so again here.
¶12 Finally, because this matter has
been resolved through a stipulation without
the appointment of a referee or the expense
of litigation and because the OLR does not
request the imposition of costs, we do not
impose them in this proceeding.
¶13 IT IS ORDERED that Attorney
Stephanie C. Stoltman is publicly
reprimanded for her professional misconduct,
as reciprocal discipline for the censure and
admonition imposed by the Arizona attorney
disciplinary authorities.
¶14 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Stephanie
C. Stoltman shall comply with all of the
terms and conditions set forth in the August
30, 2017 Order of Admonition, Probation,
(LOMAP and Costs), and Costs issued by the
Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee
of the Supreme Court of Arizona.
|
|
|