|
ATTORNEY disciplinary
proceeding. Attorney's license
suspended.
|
|
¶1 PER CURIAM. We review the
stipulation filed by Kristin J. Gernetzke
and the Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR)
pursuant to SCR 22.12, wherein Attorney
Gernetzke admits to the facts and
misconduct alleged by the OLR as set forth
in the parties' stipulation. The
misconduct giving rise to this disciplinary
matter involved improper and undocumented
billings that Attorney Gernetzke submitted
to the Office of the State Public Defender
(SPD).
¶2 We adopt the stipulated facts and
conclusions of law. We agree that Attorney
Gernetzke's misconduct warrants suspension
of her license to practice law for a period
of six months, and we further agree that
restitution is appropriate as discussed
herein. The parties do not seek to impose
the costs of this proceeding upon Attorney
Gernetzke and we accede to that
recommendation.
¶3 Attorney Gernetzke was admitted to
practice law in Wisconsin in 2002. She has
no previous disciplinary history.
¶4 From September 2002 until May 7,
2005, Attorney Gernetzke was an associate
attorney with the offices of Skemp &
Associates in La Crosse. From May 7, 2005,
until her termination on October 20, 2005,
she was an associate attorney with the firm
of O'Flaherty, Heim & Egan, Ltd.,
("O'Flaherty firm") also in La Crosse.
Throughout this period, Attorney Gernetzke
was certified to work as a public defender
by the SPD and undertook a number of cases
in that capacity.
¶5 While practicing with Skemp &
Associates, Attorney Gernetzke began to
utilize a billing entry described
as "develop legal theory" on bills she
submitted to the SPD. This type of entry
requires certain documentation in the file
to be acceptable. Attorney Gernetzke,
however, submitted numerous billings under
the category "develop legal theory" without
creating proper documentation. In some
cases, no work had been done on the file or
the entries were made as a result of
Attorney Gernetzke "thinking" about the
case. Eventually, the O'Flaherty firm
terminated Attorney Gernetzke's employment
because of her use of the "develop legal
theory" entries on bills submitted to the
SPD, and filed a grievance with the OLR.
¶6 The OLR investigators reviewed 26
of the files Attorney Gernetzke worked on
for the SPD and determined that Attorney
Gernetzke was paid $5120 for time described
as "develop legal theory." Additional
billings totaling $2698 submitted under
this category were pending at the time of
the OLR investigation. The SPD conducted
an additional review of its files and
independently demanded Attorney Gernetzke
return additional monies paid to her for
billing entries designated as "develop
legal theory."
|
|
¶7 The parties stipulated that the
entries Attorney Gernetzke designated and
billed as "develop legal theory" were
without support, improper, inflated, and
constituted conduct involving dishonesty,
fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in
violation of SCR 20:8.4(c).
|
|
¶8 The parties further stipulated that
restitution was appropriate. At the time
the stipulation was executed, Attorney
Gernetzke had made restitution to the SPD
in the amount of $5000 and had waived
claims from additional billings submitted
to the SPD in the amount of $8716.87. This
court is advised that Attorney Gernetzke is
in the process of negotiating a plan to
repay her remaining obligations to the
SPD. The stipulation indicates that
restitution to her former law firm may also
be appropriate.
¶9 We accept the parties' stipulation
and recommendations regarding discipline.
Cf. In re Disciplinary Proceedings
Against Glasbrenner, 2005 WI 50, 280 Wis.
2d 37, 695 N.W.2d 291. Consistent with the
parties' stipulation, we will not impose
the costs of this proceeding upon Attorney
Gernetzke.
¶10 IT IS ORDERED that the license of
Attorney Kristin J. Gernetzke to practice
law in Wisconsin is suspended for a period
of 6 months, effective March 2, 2007.
¶11 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Attorney
Kristin J. Gernetzke shall comply with the
requirements of SCR 22.26 pertaining to
activities following suspension.
|