Robert B. Gerbers v. Richard J. Otradovec

CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedJune 23, 2026
Docket2025AP001182
StatusUnpublished

This text of Robert B. Gerbers v. Richard J. Otradovec (Robert B. Gerbers v. Richard J. Otradovec) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robert B. Gerbers v. Richard J. Otradovec, (Wis. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS DECISION NOTICE DATED AND FILED This opinion is subject to further editing. If published, the official version will appear in the bound volume of the Official Reports. June 23, 2026 A party may file with the Supreme Court a Samuel A. Christensen petition to review an adverse decision by the Clerk of Court of Appeals Court of Appeals. See WIS. STAT. § 808.10 and RULE 809.62.

Appeal No. 2025AP1182 Cir. Ct. No. 2023CV824

STATE OF WISCONSIN IN COURT OF APPEALS DISTRICT III

ROBERT B. GERBERS AND BETTY J. GERBERS,

PLAINTIFFS-RESPONDENTS,

V.

RICHARD J. OTRADOVEC, RODAC, LLC AND ASH INVESTORS, LLC,

DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS.

APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Brown County: TIMOTHY A. HINKFUSS, Judge. Reversed and cause remanded with directions.

Before Stark, P.J., Hruz, and Gill, JJ.

Per curiam opinions may not be cited in any court of this state as precedent

or authority, except for the limited purposes specified in WIS. STAT. RULE 809.23(3). No. 2025AP1182

¶1 PER CURIAM. Richard J. Otradovec, RODAC, LLC, and Ash Investors, LLC,1 appeal from a nonfinal order denying their motion to disqualify the law firm DeWitt LLP from representing Robert B. Gerbers and Betty J. Gerbers in this case.2 For the reasons explained below, we reject the Gerbers’ argument that this appeal is moot, and we agree with the Otradovec defendants that the circuit court erroneously exercised its discretion by denying their disqualification motion. We therefore reverse and remand for the court to enter an order disqualifying DeWitt from representing the Gerbers. On remand, the court must also determine which documents constitute confidential, privileged, or work-product materials that should be subject to a protective order. The court must then enter a protective order prohibiting further use of those materials in this case and requiring the Gerbers’ counsel to return or destroy those materials and to certify that they have done so.

BACKGROUND

¶2 This lawsuit arises from a series of commercial transactions that began in 2012, in which the Gerbers and Otradovec collaborated in attempting to develop certain property in Brown County, Wisconsin. Based on the allegations in the Gerbers’ complaint, these transactions essentially fell into two general categories.

1 We refer to Richard J. Otradovec, RODAC, LLC, and Ash Investors, LLC, collectively, as the Otradovec defendants. Where necessary, we refer to Richard J. Otradovec, individually, as Otradovec. 2 We granted the Otradovec defendants’ petition for leave to appeal the circuit court’s nonfinal order on July 8, 2025. See WIS. STAT. RULE 809.50(3) (2023-24). All references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2023-24 version.

2 No. 2025AP1182

¶3 First, the Gerbers’ complaint alleges that between 2012 and 2014, Otradovec purchased real property (the Property) from the Gerbers, obtained additional investments from the Gerbers and other investors in the Property, obtained an assignment from the Gerbers of an option to purchase additional real estate, and secured building permits for the construction of businesses on the Property, including a business called Harbor Wealth Management LLC.3 The Gerbers further allege that during this time period, Otradovec formed SA Investors, LLC, and caused the Harbor Wealth parcel to be transferred from Ash Investors to SA Investors. Attorney Kathryn Blom, who was then employed by Epiphany Law, LLC, represented the Otradovec defendants in connection with these transactions.

¶4 Second, between 2015 and 2021, Otradovec allegedly transferred assets to, or accepted assets from, third parties in a number of other transactions related to the development of the Property. For the purposes of this appeal, it is undisputed that Attorney Blom did not act as the Otradovec defendants’ attorney with respect to these additional transactions.

¶5 On June 28, 2023, the Gerbers—represented by Attorney Shawn Govern of DeWitt—filed the instant lawsuit against the Otradovec defendants in Brown County Circuit Court, alleging various forms of bad conduct on Otradovec’s part in connection with the development of the Property and asserting 25 state and federal claims. Many of the Gerbers’ allegations involved transactions that occurred after 2014, when Attorney Blom was no longer

3 According to the Gerbers’ complaint, RODAC, LLC, is Otradovec’s “solely owned construction and development company,” and Otradovec formed Ash Investors, LLC, “to acquire the Property.”

3 No. 2025AP1182

representing the Otradovec defendants. However, the complaint also faulted Otradovec for transferring the Harbor Wealth parcel from Ash Investors to SA Investors in 2014, when Attorney Blom was still acting as a transactional attorney for the Otradovec defendants.

¶6 The Otradovec defendants retained attorneys David Weber and Christina Sommers of the law firm Conway, Olejniczak, & Jerry, S.C., to represent them in this lawsuit. Attorneys Weber and Sommers actively consulted with Attorney Blom, who was by then employed by Amundsen Davis LLC, regarding the development of a litigation strategy for this case.

¶7 In July 2023, the Otradovec defendants removed this lawsuit to federal court. In July 2024, DeWitt subpoenaed records from Attorney Blom and Amundsen Davis. In responding to the subpoena, Amundsen Davis inadvertently produced what the Otradovec defendants contend are privileged and confidential communications and/or work product materials, including communications between Attorney Blom and Attorneys Weber and Sommers, as well as draft versions of transactional documents from Attorney Blom’s file. For example, Amundsen Davis produced a draft offer to purchase the Harbor Wealth parcel for $190,000. Otradovec ultimately sold the Harbor Wealth parcel to SA Investors for only $153,000.

¶8 Attorneys Weber and Sommers were not copied on the subpoena to Attorney Blom and Amundsen Davis, nor did they receive copies of the materials that were produced in response to the subpoena. DeWitt subsequently relied on the draft offer to purchase the Harbor Wealth parcel during summary judgment proceedings in federal court. Attorneys Weber and Sommers then notified Attorney Blom that her firm “appeared to [have] inadvertently produce[d]

4 No. 2025AP1182

privileged materials” in response to the Gerbers’ subpoena. On November 6, 2024, Attorney Blom filed a sworn declaration in federal court asserting that her firm had inadvertently produced privileged materials and “requesting that all copies of inadvertently produced privileged and work product material be returned to [her] promptly.”

¶9 On January 29, 2025, the federal court dismissed the Gerbers’ federal claims with prejudice and remanded the Gerbers’ state law claims to state court. The federal court did not resolve the parties’ dispute regarding the materials that were inadvertently produced by Amundsen Davis.

¶10 In the meantime, on December 16, 2024, Attorney Blom left Amundsen Davis and joined DeWitt. DeWitt asserts that it “put a screen in place on December 13, 2024, prior to Attorney Blom joining the firm.”

¶11 On February 10, 2025, after learning that Attorney Blom had joined DeWitt, Attorney Sommers wrote to DeWitt asserting that it was disqualified from further representation of the Gerbers in this matter “due to the unavoidable conflict of interest arising from Attorney Blom’s prior representation of Defendants.” After receiving no response from DeWitt, the Otradovec defendants filed a motion in the circuit court on March 11, 2025, seeking to disqualify DeWitt from representing the Gerbers.

¶12 The Otradovec defendants advanced two grounds for DeWitt’s disqualification.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Robert B. Gerbers v. Richard J. Otradovec, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robert-b-gerbers-v-richard-j-otradovec-wisctapp-2026.