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ATTORNEY disciplinary proceeding.
Attorney's license revoked.
¶1 PER CURIAM. Attorney Richard W.
Steffes has filed a petition for consensual
license revocation pursuant to SCR 22.19. The
Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) has filed a
complaint against Attorney Steffes, alleging
that he committed professional misconduct. He
is also the subject of a pending OLR grievance
that has not yet been fully investigated.
Attorney Steffes states in his petition that
he cannot successfully defend against the
allegations of professional misconduct.
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¶2 Attorney Steffes was admitted to
practice law in Wisconsin in 1970. He resides
in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. His law license has
been temporarily suspended since March 2017
for failure to cooperate with the OLR in these
investigations. Attorney Steffes' law license
is also administratively suspended for failure
to pay bar dues and failure to comply with
trust account certification requirements.
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¶3 Attorney Steffes' disciplinary
history consists of a single public
reprimand issued in 2014 for allowing his
non-lawyer son to use his trust account.
See In re Disciplinary Proceedings
Against
Steffes, 2014 WI 128, 359 Wis. 2d 299, 856
N.W.2d 824.
¶4 The matter giving rise to this
petition stems from Attorney Steffes'
misconduct as guardian for R.S. R.S. was
born in 1927 and has been adjudicated
incompetent. He has had a court appointed
guardian for decades.
¶5 Attorney Steffes was appointed R.S.'
successor guardian in 1975. In 2015, it was
determined that Attorney Steffes had not
filed required accountings or annual reports
pertaining to the guardianship from 2010 to
2013. He was directed to do so. Attorney
Steffes requested and received a one-month
extension, but then failed to file the
documents.
¶6 In September 2015, the Dodge County
Department of Human Services filed a
petition asking the circuit court to remove
Attorney Steffes as R.S.' guardian because
of his failure to file these accountings and
condition reports.
¶7 On September 21, 2015, the court
appointed a guardian ad litem for R.S. The
guardian subpoenaed Attorney Steffes in an
attempt to obtain information about the
matter, but Attorney Steffes failed to
respond to the subpoena. The guardian then
filed a motion to compel discovery to obtain
records necessary to review R.S.' accounts.
¶8 On October 21, 2015, the circuit
court removed Attorney Steffes as guardian
and ordered him to file an accounting by
November 23, 2015. The court appointed G&L
Advocacy of Portage as successor guardian
for R.S.
¶9 On November 23, 2015, Attorney
Steffes filed a final accounting, but failed
to provide bank records. On December 3,
2015, Attorney Steffes appeared at a
scheduled review hearing, but failed to
bring the financial records. The court
ordered Attorney Steffes to turn over all of
the financial records by December 11, 2015.
Meanwhile, the acting guardian ad litem
subpoenaed financial records directly from
the bank.
¶10 Over the next several months,
Attorney Steffes requested and received
several adjournments. In May 2016, the
guardian ad litem filed a report with the
court identifying several concerns with
Attorney Steffes' handling of the R.S.
guardianship. The report stated that
Attorney Steffes had: (1) given R.S. monthly
payments in cash, leaving no way for
Attorney Steffes to establish that R.S.
received the entire amount to which he was
entitled or that R.S. used the funds to care
for himself; (2) taken money from R.S.'
account that was not given to R.S. or used
for his benefit; (3) taken money from R.S.'
account that went directly to Attorney
Steffes; (4) failed to monitor R.S.' bank
account, resulting in monthly maintenance
fees when the account balance fell below a
certain level; (5) failed to apply for a
homestead credit on R.S.' behalf; and (6)
paid medical expenses from R.S.' account
that should have been covered by insurance.
¶11 Attorney Steffes requested and
received time to respond and then requested
several extensions until the circuit court
ordered Attorney Steffes to file his written
response no later than July 21, 2016 or
default judgment would be entered against
him.
¶12 On July 21, 2016, Attorney Steffes
filed a response to the report. Attorney
Steffes said that he issued checks payable
to cash in order to purchase money orders
that were mailed to R.S. He said that R.S.
required payment in the form of money orders
because they were accepted at his check
cashing station. He said that some of the
payments to him were for his guardianship
fees. He said that two checks from R.S.'
account were inadvertently written to his
firm by a new secretary, but were
immediately returned to R.S.' account when
the error was discovered. Attorney Steffes
said he had no recollection of the purpose
of several of the checks written to his
firm, but stated that at no time did he
benefit from R.S.' assets. He explained
that he did not think it was necessary for
him to check on the account because there
was minimal activity, so he was unaware of
the fees being charged.
¶13 In September 2016, the Dodge County
Circuit Court conducted a final hearing on
the R.S. guardianship matter and ruled that
Attorney Steffes had committed waste of his
ward's assets. The court found: (1) there
were unexplained checks written on R.S.'
account totaling $9,000; (2) Attorney
Steffes failed to apply for the homestead
credit resulting in a loss to R.S. of
$1,904.30; and (3) Attorney Steffes
permitted unnecessary bank account
maintenance fees to accrue, totaling
$480.58. The court ordered Attorney Steffes
to pay $11,384.88 to the guardianship estate
as well as $9,000 for guardian ad litem
fees. Attorney Steffes failed to make the
ordered payments.
¶14 Attorney Steffes' conduct regarding
this matter was reported to the OLR. In
October 2016, the OLR informed Attorney
Steffes he was required to provide a written
response to the OLR's inquiries into this
matter. Despite repeated requests, Attorney
Steffes failed to respond, then requested
additional time or submitted correspondence
that was not responsive to the OLR's
inquiries.
¶15 In January 2017, at the OLR's
request, this court issued an order
directing Attorney Steffes to show cause as
to why his license should not be suspended
for his willful failure to cooperate in the
OLR investigation. Attorney Steffes failed
to respond and, on March 13, 2017, this
court issued an order temporarily suspending
Attorney Steffes' law license. His license
remains suspended.
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¶16 On September 29, 2017, the OLR filed
a complaint against Attorney Steffes based
on the foregoing alleging six counts of
professional misconduct. The complaint
alleged that by providing his ward with cash
payments contrary to the purpose of the
guardianship, which was to ensure that R.S.'
assets would be used to meet his essential
needs of health and safety, Attorney Steffes
violated SCR 20:1.1 (Count 1); by failing to
file annual accounts and annual reports of
his ward's condition from 2010 through 2014,
and by failing to monitor his ward's bank
account resulting in the wasting of the
ward's assets, Attorney Steffes violated SCR
20:1.3 (Count 2); by failing to respond to
the Order to Show Cause issued by the court
in February of 2015 in the guardianship,
Attorney Steffes violated SCR 20:3.4(c)
(Count 3); by failing to comply with the
court's September 20, 2016 order that he
reimburse the guardianship estate and pay
the guardian ad litem fees, Attorney Steffes
violated SCR 20:3.4(c) (Count 4); by
misappropriating funds from his ward's
account, Attorney Steffes violated SCR
20:8.4(c) (Count 5); and by willfully
failing to respond to the OLR's
investigation, Attorney Steffes violated SCR
22.03(2) and SCR 22.03(6), enforced via SCR
20:8.4(h) (Count 6). The complaint
requested this court suspend Attorney
Steffes' law license for three years and
order Attorney Steffes to pay restitution to
the guardian estate of R.S.
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¶17 On February 15, 2018, Attorney
Steffes filed a petition for revocation by
consent. It attaches a copy of the
complaint as well as a summary of a pending
OLR investigation into additional potential
ethical violations involving Attorney
Steffes' handling of a probate matter for
J.R. The OLR summary indicates that its
investigation involves Attorney Steffes'
potential violations of the following
supreme court rules: SCR 20:1.3, SCR
20:1.4(a), SCR 22.26 and SCR 22.03(2). The
OLR states that it does not seek restitution
in the pending investigation.
¶18 Attorney Steffes' petition for
consensual revocation asserts that he is
seeking consensual revocation of his law
license freely, voluntarily, and knowingly.
He states that he cannot successfully defend
himself against the allegations of
misconduct summarized above and more fully
described in the OLR's summary. Attorney
Steffes acknowledges that he understands he
is giving up his right to contest any of the
OLR's allegations. He has the assistance of
counsel in this matter. The petition
acknowledges that if the court grants the
petition and revokes his license, Attorney
Steffes will be subject to the requirements
of SCR 22.26 and, should he ever wish to
seek the reinstatement of his license, the
reinstatement procedure set forth in SCRs
22.29-22.33.
¶19 The court has reviewed Attorney
Steffes' petition, the OLR's summary of
possible misconduct, and its written
recommendation in favor of the petition, and
we conclude that the petition for consensual
revocation should be granted.
¶20 Attorney Steffes misappropriated
funds from a very vulnerable person for whom
he served as guardian. Although Attorney
Steffes does not have an extensive
disciplinary history, the allegations in the
underlying complaint are very serious and
were committed over a period of several
years. When his misconduct was discovered,
Attorney Steffes fostered delay, ignored a
subpoena, court orders, and failed to fully
cooperate with the ensuing disciplinary
process. His actions reflect a troubling
and serious breach of his ethical
obligations as a lawyer in this state.
¶21 Consistent with the terms of the
petition, we order Attorney Steffes to pay
restitution to the guardian estate of R.S.
c/o G&L Advocacy, in the amount of
$11,384.88. Because this matter is being
resolved via a petition for consensual
revocation without the need to appoint a
referee or hold an extensive hearing, we
will not impose costs on Attorney Steffes.
¶22 IT IS ORDERED that the petition of
Richard W. Steffes for the consensual
revocation of his license to practice law in
Wisconsin is granted.
¶23 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the
license of Richard W. Steffes to practice
law in Wisconsin is revoked, effective the
date of this order.
¶24 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the March
13, 2017 temporary suspension of Richard W.
Steffes' license to practice law in
Wisconsin, due to his willful failure to
cooperate with the Office of Lawyer
Regulation's investigation in this matter,
is lifted.
¶25 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Richard
W. Steffes shall pay restitution to the
guardian estate of R.S. c/o G&L Advocacy, in
the amount of $11,384.88.
¶26 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Richard
W. Steffes is ordered to comply with any
final monetary order or judgment issued in
In the Matter of the Guardianship and
Protective Placement of R.S., Dodge County
case no. 1958GN37423.
¶27 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, to the
extent he has not already done so, Richard
W. Steffes shall comply with the provisions
of SCR 22.26 concerning the duties of a
person whose license to practice law in
Wisconsin has been revoked.
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¶28 SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J. I agree
that Attorney Steffes violated the Code and
should be disciplined. I would not adopt the
stipulation for consensual license revocation.
License revocation is too harsh a punishment
for the offense and the offender in the
instant case. The OLR initially sought a
three-year suspension. Three years seems
right to me on the basis of past cases.
¶29 I am authorized to state that Justice
ANN WALSH BRADLEY joins this separate writing.
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