Professional Discipline

The Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility, an arm of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, assists the court in discharging its exclusive constitutional responsibility to supervise the practice of law in this state and to protect the public from acts of professional misconduct by attorneys licensed to practice in Wisconsin. The board is composed of eight lawyers and four nonlawyer members, and its offices are located at Room 315, 110 E. Main St., Madison, WI 53703, and Room 102, 611 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, WI 53202.

• Private Reprimand Summaries

Public reprimand of Hans Karel Ribbens

Hans Karel Ribbens, age 33, Manitowoc, has been publicly reprimanded by the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility (BAPR). After leaving employment at a law firm, Ribbens received and deposited in a personal account public defender checks totaling $336 for work he had done while employed at the firm. When the firm learned about these payments and filed a grievance, Ribbens reimbursed the firm and asserted that his conduct was inadvertent. BAPR concluded that by taking fee payments that belonged to his former law firm, Ribbens engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, contrary to SCR 20:8.4(c).

The reimbursement check that Ribbens gave his former law firm was written on Ribbens' client trust account, even though the public defender checks had not been deposited to that account. A resulting investigation revealed that Ribbens also had commingled personal and client funds in his trust account, contrary to SCR 20:1.15(a); failed to create and maintain complete trust account records, contrary to SCR 20:1.15(e); certified on his 1997 State Bar dues statement that he had complied with trust account record-keeping requirements when he had not, contrary to SCR 20:1.15(g); failed to deposit and hold advance payments of fees and other client funds in his trust account, contrary to SCR 20:1.15(a) and (d); provided inaccurate information to BAPR staff about the source of a deposit to his business account, contrary to SCR 22.07(2); neglected to promptly file a deed and pay closing costs out of trust funds, contrary to SCR 20:1.3 and SCR 20:1.15(b); and had a conflict of interest when he billed both buyers and the seller in a real estate transaction without making the appropriate disclosure and obtaining written consent, contrary to SCR 20:1.7(a). BAPR determined that the seriousness of the above violations was mitigated, in part, because Ribbens was a recent law school graduate and had no experience in handling a trust account. No client filed a complaint, and there was no evidence that any client was deprived of funds. Furthermore, Ribbens demonstrated that he is currently maintaining appropriate trust account records and is no longer commingling personal and client funds. BAPR, therefore, publicly reprimanded Ribbens for his misconduct on the condition that, for two years, he submit quarterly trust account records for BAPR's review.

Petition to reinstate Thomas E. Zablocki

A hearing on the petition of Thomas E. Zablocki for the reinstatement of his law license will be held before the District 2 Professional Responsibility Committee on June 15, 1999, at 6 p.m., at the offices of BAPR, 342 N. Water St., Third Floor, Milwaukee.

Zablocki's license was suspended for six months by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, effective Aug. 19, 1998, for failing to maintain a client trust account and depositing client funds into at least five personal checking accounts, thereby commingling client funds with his own, in violation of SCR 20:1.15(a). Zablocki also engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, in violation of SCR 20:8.4(c), when Zablocki informed a client that she was not entitled to any of the proceeds of a $5,000 settlement Zablocki had received on the client's behalf. Zablocki deposited the settlement check into his own personal account, and disbursed $3,600 to himself. With respect to this same matter, a check Zablocki had written to a doctor to cover that doctor's lien on the settlement proceeds was returned twice for insufficient funds, in violation of SCR 20:1.15(b). The doctor ultimately was paid. Zablocki also failed to maintain the trust account records required by SCR 20:1.15(e), and failed to timely and/or fully respond to BAPR's request for the production of bank records during the investigation of these matters, in violations of SCR 21.03(4) and SCR 22.07(2) and (3).

Zablocki is required by Supreme Court Rule 22.28 to establish by clear and convincing evidence, that:

1. he desires to have his license reinstated;
2. he has not practiced law during the suspension;
3. he has complied with the terms of the disciplinary order;
4. he has maintained competence and learning in law;
5. his conduct since the discipline has been exemplary and above reproach;
6. he has a proper understanding of and attitude toward the standards that are imposed upon members of the bar and will act in conformity with the standards;
7. he can safely be recommended to the legal profession, the courts and the public as a person fit to be consulted by others and to represent them and otherwise act in matters of trust and confidence, and in general to aid in the administration of justice as a member of the bar and as an officer of the court;
8. he has made restitution or settled all claims from persons injured or harmed by his misconduct, or in the event such restitution is not complete, his explanation of the failure or inability to do so;
9. he has indicated the proposed use of the license after reinstatement; and
10. he has fully described all business activities during the suspension.

Any interested person may appear at the hearing and be heard in support of or in opposition to the petition for reinstatement. Further information may be obtained from Jeananne L. Danner, Deputy Administrator, Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility, 342 N. Water St., Suite 300, Milwaukee, WI 53202, (4l4) 227-4623.

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