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ATTORNEY disciplinary
proceeding. Attorney's license
suspended.
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¶1 PER CURIAM. We review the
stipulation filed by Attorney James T.
Winch and the Office of Lawyer Regulation
(OLR) pursuant to SCR 22.12 concerning
Attorney Winch's professional misconduct
relating to use of his trust account and
his failure to cooperate in the OLR's
investigation. The parties stipulated that
the appropriate discipline to impose is the
suspension of Attorney Winch's license to
practice law in Wisconsin for one year.
¶2 We approve the stipulation and
adopt the stipulated facts and conclusions
of law. We agree that the seriousness of
Attorney Winch's misconduct warrants the
suspension of his license to practice law,
and we accept the parties' stipulation that
a one-year suspension is appropriate
discipline.
¶3 Attorney Winch was admitted to
practice law in Wisconsin in 1981 and
practices in Mazomanie.
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¶4 On December 18, 2006, the OLR filed
a complaint against Attorney Winch. The
first five trust account violations alleged
in the complaint involved Attorney Winch's
representation of J.S. in a divorce, an
eviction, and a sale of a farm. Attorney
Winch stipulated to the following counts of
misconduct with respect to his
representation of J.S.:
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COUNT ONE: By converting at least
$6,524.40 that he was holding in trust for
[J.S.] to his own purposes, Winch engaged
in conduct involving dishonesty, in
violation of SCR 20:8.4(c).
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COUNT TWO: By failing for years to hold
funds belonging to [J.S.] in trust, at one
point being at least $12,719.58 out of
trust, Winch failed to hold in trust,
separate from his own property, that
property of clients and third persons that
was in his possession in connection with a
representation or when acting in a
fiduciary capacity, in violation of former
SCR 20:1.15(a) [effective through June 30,
2004] and current SCR 20:1.15(b)(1)
[effective July 1, 2004].
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COUNT THREE: By depositing a $20,000.00
check to his trust account in January 2005,
which constituted the proceeds of a
personal real estate transaction, and by
depositing $6,000.18 in earned fees to the
trust account in July of 2005, Winch
deposited or retained funds belonging to
the lawyer in his trust account, in
violation of SCR 20:1.15(b)(3).
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COUNT FOUR: By disbursing at least
$6,195.18 to himself from his trust account
between January of 1996 and February of
2005 to pay [J.S.]'s legal fees, without
[J.S.]'s authorization, Winch violated a
standard for withdrawing fees from a trust
account, which had been established by the
Wisconsin Supreme Court in Matter of
Disciplinary Proceeding against Marine,
82 Wis. 2d 602, 264 N.W.2d 285 (1978), in
violation of SCR 20:8.4(f).
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COUNT FIVE: By disbursing $1,550 to
himself from his trust account between July
1, 2004 and February of 2005 to pay
[J.S.]'s legal fees, without providing
written notice to [J.S.], Winch withdrew
fees from a trust account without providing
written notice to the client at least five
business days prior to the withdrawal, in
violation of SCR 20:1.15(g)(1) [effective
July 1, 2004].
¶5 The other four counts of trust
account violations alleged in the OLR's
complaint involved Attorney Winch
depositing a $375 check from a client named
J.P. into his trust account on August 3,
2005. On August 19, 2005, Attorney Winch
issued a trust account check in connection
with his representation of J.P. payable to
a title company in the amount of $290. The
OLR received notice that this check
resulted in a $263.78 overdraft in Attorney
Winch's trust account.
¶6 The OLR audited Attorney Winch's
trust account records and found that the
overdraft was attributable to multiple
disbursements Attorney Winch made between
January 31, 2005, and August 18, 2005, that
exceeded the balance Attorney Winch
actually held in trust in connection with
13 client matters. Personal funds that
Attorney Winch commingled in his trust
account after he sold his office building
in January 2005 masked these over-
disbursements.
¶7 By mid-August 2005, Attorney Winch
had disbursed to himself the remaining
funds from the sale of his office
building. The shortfall caused by the
multiple over-disbursements resulted in his
conversion of at least $1985.58 belonging
to 15 clients. Attorney Winch told the OLR
that the August 19, 2005 overdraft resulted
from his disbursement of trust account
funds prior to making a trust account
deposit. He later advised the OLR that the
overdraft was also due to his disbursing
checks without noting them in the ledger
sheets for his clients; his failure to
maintain a running balance in his
transaction register; and his failure to
reconcile the account.
¶8 The OLR's complaint alleged, and
Attorney Winch stipulated, to the following
counts of misconduct:
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COUNT SIX: By failing to hold in trust
at
least $1,985.58 belonging to thirteen
clients other than [J.S.], Winch failed to
hold in trust, separate from his own
property, that property of clients and
third persons that was in his possession in
connection with a representation or when
acting in a fiduciary capacity, in
violation of former SCR 20:1.15(a)
[effective through June 30, 2004] and
current SCR 20:1.15(b)(1) [effective July
1, 2004].
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COUNT SEVEN: By failing to maintain a
running balance in his trust account's
transaction register, Winch failed to
maintain a transaction register that
included the balance in the account after
each transaction, in violation of SCR
20:1.15(f)(1)a.
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COUNT EIGHT: By failing to record
disbursements in the appropriate client
ledgers, Winch failed to record each
disbursement of client funds in a
subsidiary ledger for that client, in
violation of SCR 20:1.15(f)(1)b.
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COUNT NINE: By failing to reconcile his
trust account, Winch failed to prepare
reconciliation reports "not less frequently
than every 30 days," in violation of SCR
20:1.15(f)(1)g.
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¶9 The final misconduct alleged in the
OLR's complaint arose out of Attorney
Winch's failure to respond for over seven
months to the OLR's repeated requests for
information relating to the conversions
from his trust account. The complaint
alleged, and Attorney Winch stipulated,
that he willfully failed to provide
relevant information, fully answer
questions, and furnish documents requested
by the OLR, in violation of SCR 20:8.4(f)
as it related to the requirements of SCR
22.03(6).
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¶10 The stipulation notes that Attorney
Winch was privately reprimanded in 1992 for
threatening criminal prosecution. Attorney
Winch states that he fully understands the
misconduct allegations, the ramifications
if this court should impose the stipulated
level of discipline, his right to contest
the matter and his right to consult with
counsel. He further avers that his entry
into the stipulation was made knowingly and
voluntarily and represents his admission of
all misconduct and his assent to the level
and type of discipline sought by the OLR
director. The stipulation also notes that
Attorney Winch has suffered from a number
of serious personal problems; that he
withdrew from the representation of a
number of clients and shifted his practice
to routine traffic cases, wills, deeds, and
similar legal matters to enable him to deal
better with the problems in his personal
life. The stipulation states that Attorney
Winch agrees to the one-year suspension of
his license sought by the OLR director.
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¶11 We adopt the findings of fact and
conclusions of law to which the parties
have stipulated concerning Attorney Winch's
professional misconduct. We determine that
the seriousness of the misconduct warrants
the suspension of Attorney Winch's license
to practice law for one year. We note that
the OLR is not seeking an assessment of
costs given that Attorney Winch fully
cooperated with the OLR's litigation
process and entered into a comprehensive
stipulation before a referee was appointed.
¶12 IT IS ORDERED that the license of
James T. Winch to practice law in Wisconsin
is suspended for a period of one year,
effective May 31, 2007.
¶13 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Attorney
James T. Winch comply with the provisions
of SCR 22.26 concerning the duties of a
person whose license to practice law in
Wisconsin has been suspended.
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