In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Snyder

380 N.W.2d 367, 127 Wis. 2d 446, 1986 Wisc. LEXIS 1642
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 29, 1986
DocketNo. 84-2460-D
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 380 N.W.2d 367 (In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Snyder) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Snyder, 380 N.W.2d 367, 127 Wis. 2d 446, 1986 Wisc. LEXIS 1642 (Wis. 1986).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Attorney disciplinary proceeding; attorney's license revoked.

For the appellant, Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility, there were briefs by Stephen T. Jacobs and Reinhart, Boerner, Van Deuren, Norris & Rieselbach, S.C., Milwaukee.

For the respondent, E.H. Snyder, there were briefs by A lan Marcuvitz, David A. Roth and Peregrine, Marcuvitz & Peltin, S.C., Milwaukee.

The Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility (Board) appealed from the referee's recommendation that the respondent, Attorney E. H. Snyder, be permitted to voluntarily resign his membership in the state bar, pursuant to SCR 10.03(7), as appropriate discipline for his unprofessional conduct. That conduct consisted of Attorney Snyder's continued failure to file trust accounts for a period of five years for a trust which he served as trustee, in violation of SCR 20.32(3), and his misappropriation of approximately $17,000 in trust assets and his transfer of those funds to his personal accounts, in violation of SCR 20.04(4) and 11.05. Because the court's rules concerning attorney discipline do not include voluntary resignation from the State Bar of Wisconsin among the types of disci[448]*448pline imposed for professional misconduct, SCR 21.06,1 the referee's recommendation is improper. We determine that the revocation of Attorney Snyder's license to practice law in Wisconsin is appropriate discipline for his unprofessional conduct.

Attorney Snyder was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 1951 and practices in Milwaukee. He has not previously been the subject of a disciplinary proceeding. The referee is Attorney Robert P. Harland.

In the course of the disciplinary proceeding, Attorney Snyder and the Board entered into a stipulation in which it was admitted that Attorney Snyder had been attorney for an estate in which the decedent's will created a testamentary trust. Attorney Snyder was subsequently appointed the sole trustee of that trust, and he acted in that capacity from January 7, 1976, until his resignation on October 25, 1982. The only trust accounts he filed with the court were for the year ending December 31,1977. In 1982 the circuit court requested that trust accounts be filed with the court, stating that Attorney Snyder would be removed as trustee if the accounts were not filed. Attorney Snyder continued to fail to file trust accounts, and on October 25,1982, the court permitted him to resign as trustee.

The attorney , appointed to succeed Attorney Snyder as trustee discovered that some trust account funds had not been accounted for, and it was subsequently determined that $16,848.04 had been transferred from the trust to the personal accounts of Attorney Snyder without [449]*449any legal basis for such transfer. On March 21,1983, the circuit court approved a voluntary settlement between the trust and Attorney Snyder under which Attorney Snyder paid the trust $30,000 to reimburse it for missing funds and lost interest, to return legal fees previously paid to him and to contribute to a portion of the successor attorney's legal fees.

On the basis of the stipulated facts, the referee concluded that Attorney Snyder's failure to file trust accounts constituted neglect of a legal matter, in violation of SCR 20.32(3), and that his transfer of trust funds to his personal accounts constituted misappropriation of client funds, in violation of SCR 20.04(4). Although the referee made no reference to the rule proscribing the commingling of client funds with those of a lawyer, we conclude that Attorney Snyder's transfer of trust funds to his personal accounts also violated SCR 11.05.

In making the recommendation that Attorney Snyder be permitted to voluntarily resign his membership in the state bar, the referee noted that Attorney Snyder had made full restitution prior to the commencement of the disciplinary proceeding, that he had no prior history of unprofessional conduct, that he fully cooperated with the Board in this disciplinary matter, that he had transferred all of his legal matters to other counsel, and that he had no intention of practicing law in the future. In addition to recommending that Attorney Snyder be permitted to voluntarily resign from the state bar, the referee recommended that he be prohibited from applying for reinstatement of his license for a period of two years and that he be required to pay the costs of this proceeding.

The Board, citing SCR 21.09(5),2 argued that, because [450]*450the referee did not recommend the dismissal of the disciplinary complaint or recommend the suspension of Attorney Snyder's license or the continuation of his practice under specified conditions for medical incapacity, the referee's only alternative was to recommend a form of discipline provided by SCR 21.06. In support of its position, the Board cited Disciplinary Proceedings Against Laubenheimer, 113 Wis. 2d 680, 335 N.W. 2d 624 (1983), in which the court specifically held that only those types of discipline provided by SCR 21.06 are permitted. In Lauben-heimer, the court rejected as improper a referee's recommendation that an attorney pay a fine, as such discipline was not provided for in SCR 21.06. The Board further contended that Attorney Snyder's misappropriation of client trust funds warrants discipline more severe than what a voluntary resignation from the bar would constitute.

The Board asserted that the issue of appropriate discipline in this matter has been conclusively determined by the court's holding in Disciplinary Proceedings Against Wortley, 126 Wis. 2d 58, 374 N.W. 2d 898 (1985). There the court held that the referee's recommended dismissal of the disciplinary complaint conditioned upon the respondent's retirement from the practice of law was improper. The court further held that if the attorney had wanted to discontinue the practice of law and not contest the allegations of misconduct, the proper procedure [451]*451would have been to submit to a voluntary revocation of his license, pursuant to SCR 21.10.3

In his brief, Attorney Snyder stated that he had never requested that the referee include in his recommendation the condition that he not be permitted to apply for reinstatement of his license for a period of two years. Rather, he affirmed that he has permanently retired from the practice of law and would have no objection to a condition that he has no right to apply for reinstatement at any time.

Attorney Snyder also argued that, in light of his having offered at the disciplinary hearing to resign from the practice of law, close his office and turn over all legal matters to other counsel, the referee's recommendation that he be permitted to resign from the practice of law constituted a dismissal of the disciplinary proceeding. However, this argument is not supported by the record. In his report, the referee considered two alternative dispositions: revocation of Attorney Snyder's license by consent, pursu[452]*452ant to SCR 21.10, which requires the attorney to admit that he has no defense to the allegations of unprofessional conduct, and voluntary resignation from the state bar. It is clear that the referee did not recommend the dismissal of this proceeding.

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Bluebook (online)
380 N.W.2d 367, 127 Wis. 2d 446, 1986 Wisc. LEXIS 1642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-disciplinary-proceedings-against-snyder-wis-1986.