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ATTORNEY disciplinary
proceeding. Reinstatement granted upon
conditions.
¶1 PER CURIAM. We review a referee's
report recommending that Jenelle
Glasbrenner's license to practice law in
Wisconsin be reinstated. The Office of
Lawyer Regulation (OLR) and the Board of
Bar Examiners (BBE) have both joined in
that favorable recommendation.
¶2 We adopt the referee's findings of
fact and conclusions of law and conclude
that Attorney Glasbrenner's license to
practice law should be reinstated upon the
conditions recommended by the referee. We
further direct Attorney Glasbrenner to pay
the costs of the reinstatement proceeding,
which total $2168.55 as of March 3, 2006.
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¶3 Attorney Glasbrenner was admitted
to practice law in Wisconsin in 1999. On
April 22, 2005, this court suspended her
license to practice law for six months for
professional misconduct consisting of over
billing the Office of the Wisconsin State
Public Defender (SPD) for work she had
performed for them. See In re
Disciplinary Proceedings Against
Glasbrenner, 2005 WI 50, 280 Wis. 2d 37,
695 N.W.2d 291.
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¶4 Attorney Glasbrenner now seeks
reinstatement of her license to practice
law in Wisconsin. Judith Sperling-Newton
was appointed referee in the matter and
conducted a formal hearing on the
reinstatement petition. The referee filed
her report and recommendation on February
13, 2006, and recommended that this court
grant the petition for reinstatement. As
noted above, the OLR and the BBE have both
joined in that favorable recommendation.
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¶5 SCR 22.31(1) provides the standard
to be met for reinstatement of a law
license. The petitioner has the burden of
demonstrating "by clear, satisfactory, and
convincing evidence" that the lawyer has
the moral character to practice law, that
the lawyer's resumption of the practice of
law will not be detrimental to the
administration of justice or subversive of
the public interest, and that the lawyer
has complied with SCR 22.26 and the terms
of the suspension. In addition, SCR 22.29
(4) sets forth related requirements that a
petition for reinstatement must show. All
of these additional requirements are
effectively incorporated into SCR 22.31(1).
¶6 The referee in this case concluded
that Attorney Glasbrenner had met all of
the criteria for reinstatement, including
repaying the SPD for the amounts over
billed and paying the costs of the
disciplinary proceeding. The referee
concluded that Attorney Glasbrenner met her
burden of demonstrating that her license to
practice law in Wisconsin should be
reinstated. The referee specifically found
that Attorney Glasbrenner was genuinely
remorseful about her conduct and that she
did not appear to be making excuses or
avoiding responsibility for her actions.
The referee also noted that Attorney
Glasbrenner sought an attorney mentor to
assist her in complying with the rules of
professional conduct and that she has said
she intends to continue using the attorney
mentor if her license to practice is
reinstated.
¶7 The referee recommended that
Attorney Glasbrenner's license to practice
law be reinstated with the following
conditions: (1) that she keep formal,
accurate, and contemporaneous accounting of
her time to be entered into her law firm's
billing system; and (2) that the OLR have
the authority, for two years following her
reinstatement, to supervise her in this
regard and to require that she report to
the OLR as requested with respect to her
billing practices.
¶8 After careful review of the record
we agree that Attorney Glasbrenner has
established by clear, satisfactory, and
convincing evidence that she has satisfied
all the criteria necessary for
reinstatement. Accordingly, we adopt the
referee's findings of fact and conclusions
of law and we accept the referee's
recommendation to reinstate Attorney
Glasbrenner's license to practice law in
Wisconsin, subject to the conditions
recommended by the referee. We further
direct Attorney Glasbrenner to pay the
costs of the reinstatement proceeding.
¶9 IT IS ORDERED that the petition for
reinstatement of the license of Jenelle
Glasbrenner to practice law in Wisconsin is
granted, effective the date of this order.
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¶10 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the
reinstatement of Attorney Glasbrenner's
license to practice law be subject to the
following conditions: (1) that she keep
formal, accurate, and contemporaneous
accounting of her time to be entered into
her law firm's billing system; and (2) that
the OLR have the authority, for two years
following her reinstatement, to supervise
her in this regard and to require that she
report to the OLR as requested with respect
to her billing practices.
¶11 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within
six months of the date of this order
Jenelle Glasbrenner pay to the Office of
Lawyer Regulation the costs of this
proceeding. If the costs are not paid
within the time specified, and absent a
showing to this court of her inability to
pay the costs within that time, the license
of Jenelle Glasbrenner to practice law in
Wisconsin shall be suspended until further
order of the court.
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