Case Title: Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Judith A. Pinchar

Citation: 2003 WI 23

Docket Number: 2002AP002950-D

State: wisconsin

Court: Wisconsin Supreme Court

Date: 2003-04-10T00:00:00Z

Document:
2003 WI 23 
 
 
 
SUPREME COURT OF WISCONSIN 
 
 
 
 
 
CASE NO.: 
02-2950-D 
 
 
COMPLETE TITLE: 
 
 
In the Matter of Disciplinary Proceedings 
Against Judith A. Pinchar, Attorney at Law: 
 
Office of Lawyer Regulation,  
 
Complainant, 
 
v. 
Judith A. Pinchar,  
 
Respondent. 
 
 
 
 
DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST PINCHAR 
 
 
OPINION FILED: 
April 10, 2003   
SUBMITTED ON BRIEFS: 
        
ORAL ARGUMENT: 
        
 
 
SOURCE OF APPEAL: 
 
 
COURT: 
        
 
COUNTY: 
        
 
JUDGE: 
        
 
 
 
JUSTICES: 
 
 
CONCURRED: 
        
 
DISSENTED: 
        
 
NOT PARTICIPATING:         
 
 
 
ATTORNEYS: 
 
      
 
 
2003 WI 23 
NOTICE 
This opinion is subject to further 
editing and modification.  The final 
version will appear in the bound 
volume of the official reports.   
No.  02-2950-D  
 
 
STATE OF WISCONSIN  
 
 
   : 
IN SUPREME COURT 
 
 
In the Matter of Disciplinary Proceedings 
Against Judith A. Pinchar, Attorney at  
Law: 
 
Office of Lawyer Regulation,  
 
          Complainant, 
 
     v. 
 
Judith A. Pinchar,  
 
          Respondent. 
 
FILED 
 
APR 10, 2003 
 
Cornelia G. Clark 
Clerk of Supreme Court 
 
 
 
 
 
ATTORNEY 
disciplinary 
proceeding.  Attorney's 
license 
revoked.   
 
¶1 
PER CURIAM.   We review the referee's recommendation 
that Attorney Judith A. Pinchar's license to practice law in 
Wisconsin be revoked due to professional misconduct involving 
improper use of Attorney Pinchar's trust account.  The referee 
also recommended that Attorney Pinchar be required to pay the 
costs of the proceeding. 
¶2 
We 
adopt 
the 
referee's 
findings 
of 
fact 
and 
conclusions of law and agree that the seriousness of Attorney 
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
2 
 
Pinchar's professional misconduct warrants the revocation of her 
license to practice law in Wisconsin.  
¶3 
Attorney Pinchar was admitted to practice law in 
Wisconsin in 1982 and practiced in the Milwaukee area.  In 1999 
she consented to a private reprimand for misconduct consisting 
of failing either to settle a client's claim or file suit before 
the statute of limitations ran, failing to respond to the 
client's attempts to contact her, failing to inform the client 
that the statute of limitations had passed, and failing to 
respond to inquiries from Board of Attorneys Professional 
Responsibility1 staff investigating the matter.  
¶4 
In November of 2000 this court imposed a 60-day 
suspension of Attorney Pinchar's license to practice law for 
failing to cooperate with the investigation of three grievances; 
failing to take proper steps to protect her client's interest; 
failing to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of 
a 
matter; 
engaging 
in 
dishonesty, 
fraud, 
deceit 
or 
misrepresentation; and, practicing law in a jurisdiction where 
doing so violates the regulation of the legal profession in that 
jurisdiction.  In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Pinchar, 
2000 WI 122, 239 Wis. 2d 269, 618 N.W.2d 869.  On August 27, 
2001, Attorney Pinchar's license was temporarily suspended for 
                                                 
1 Effective 
October 
1, 
2000, 
Wisconsin's 
attorney 
disciplinary process underwent a substantial restructuring.  The 
name of the body responsible for investigating and prosecuting 
cases involving attorney misconduct was changed from the Board 
of Attorneys Professional Responsibility to the Office of Lawyer 
Regulation.   
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
3 
 
her willful failure to respond or cooperate with an Office of 
Lawyer Regulation (OLR) grievance investigation.  Attorney 
Pinchar's license remains suspended. 
¶5 
On November 5, 2002, the OLR filed a complaint 
alleging that Attorney Pinchar engaged in misconduct with 
respect to three former clients.  The first client hired 
Attorney Pinchar in August of 2000 to represent him in a post-
divorce matter.  The client gave Attorney Pinchar a check in the 
amount of $6326.22 for arrearages owed to the client's ex-wife.  
Attorney Pinchar deposited the check into her trust account on 
September 21, 2000.  There was a balance of $3.72 in Attorney 
Pinchar's trust account at that time.   
¶6 
Attorney Pinchar represented to the client's ex-wife 
that the $6326.22 in her trust account was to fulfill all 
remaining amounts owed by the client and that the amount 
included $2239 for attorney's fees.  The client's ex-wife 
retained an attorney to represent her in the matter.  The ex-
wife's attorney calculated the amount of the arrearages to be 
$11,845.20.  On November 1, 2000, Attorney Pinchar disbursed a 
$1708.53 check to herself from the funds held in trust for her 
client, identifying the payment as attorney's fees. 
¶7 
On November 15, 2000, Attorney Pinchar deposited into 
her trust account an $8820.75 settlement check relating to a 
second client.  Attorney Pinchar disbursed $7112.22 of the 
settlement, including a 
$1228.77 
disbursement 
to Attorney 
Pinchar for attorney's fees.  After those disbursements $1708.53 
remained in the trust account from the settlement which, 
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
4 
 
consequently, replaced the $1708.53 converted on November 1, 
2000, from the funds held in trust for the first client. 
¶8 
On 
November 
29, 
2000, 
Ameritech 
electronically 
withdrew $708 from Attorney Pinchar's trust account.  The source 
of that payment was the funds held in trust for the first 
client.  On December 20, 2000, Attorney Pinchar disbursed a $500 
check to herself from the funds held in trust for the first 
client, identifying the payment as additional attorney's fees 
owed by the first client.  On December 22, 2000, Attorney 
Pinchar disbursed a $1000 check to herself from the funds held 
in trust for the first client, without identifying the reason 
for the payment.  
¶9 
On May 25, 2001, Attorney Pinchar disbursed a $600 
check to herself from the funds held in trust for the first 
client, without identifying the reason for the payment.  On June 
27, 2001, Attorney Pinchar disbursed a $787.50 check to the 
attorney for the first client's ex-wife from the funds held in 
trust for the first client.  This check was for the first 
client's contribution toward his ex-wife's attorney fees.   
¶10 On July 7, 2001, Attorney Pinchar disbursed $350 to 
another client, identifying the payment as a refund of a 
retainer fee.  This refund was made from the funds held in trust 
for the first client.  On July 16, 2001, Attorney Pinchar cashed 
a $100 trust account check drawn on the funds held in trust for 
the first client.  The check was made payable to "Judith 
Berkowski."  Judith Berkowski is Attorney Pinchar's name by 
marriage.  On July 18, 2001, Attorney Pinchar disbursed a $440 
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
5 
 
check from the funds held in trust for the first client to the 
rental agent for Attorney Pinchar's office space. 
¶11 As of July 18, 2001, Attorney Pinchar had converted 
$3,698 from the first client's funds.  This amount did not 
include the $1708.53 fee payment, which Attorney Pinchar 
converted and later replaced.  On August 14, 2001, Attorney 
Pinchar deposited to the trust account a $3700 check payable to 
her from a relative.  This deposit covered the $3698 converted 
from the first client's funds.  
¶12 On August 14, 2001, Attorney Pinchar disbursed a 
$5539.12 check to the first client's ex-wife as a partial 
payment of arrearages.  Without the loan from Attorney Pinchar's 
relative deposited into the trust account that same day, there 
would have been insufficient funds in the trust account to cover 
this disbursement.  Following the disbursement there were no 
more funds in the trust account belonging to the first client.   
¶13 On November 29, 2001, after her law license had been 
suspended, Attorney Pinchar disbursed a $1618.95 trust account 
check to the attorney for the first client's ex-wife in 
settlement of the first client's arrearages.  At the time the 
check was written there were no funds in the account belonging 
to the first client.   
¶14 On December 3, 2001, Attorney Pinchar deposited into 
her trust account a $50 check from the first client along with 
$158 from two other clients in payment of past due attorney 
fees.  On December 4, 2001, Attorney Pinchar deposited into her 
trust account an $890 retainer fee and a $500 retainer fee from 
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
6 
 
two different clients.  Even after the deposit of those funds 
into the trust account the check written to the attorney for the 
first client's ex-wife resulted in an overdraft.   
¶15 The OLR's complaint also alleged that Attorney Pinchar 
engaged in misconduct with respect to her defense of a second 
client who hired her to defend lawsuits filed against him by the 
Town of Richfield and a former tenant.  In December 2001 
Attorney Pinchar informed the second client she would need $3000 
to continue to cover costs associated with the Town of Richfield 
lawsuit.  On December 4, 2001, over three months after Attorney 
Pinchar's license had been suspended, the second client gave 
Attorney Pinchar a check for $890 toward the requested retainer.  
The entire $890 was converted when Attorney Pinchar made the 
$1618.95 payment to the attorney for the first client's ex-wife.   
¶16 The OLR's complaint also alleged that Attorney Pinchar 
engaged in misconduct with respect to a third client who 
retained her to defend him in a lawsuit related to the sale of a 
defective product.  On November 30, 2001, Attorney Pinchar 
disbursed a trust account check in the amount of $300 to the 
attorney for the plaintiff in the lawsuit.  The check was to 
satisfy costs associated with a motion to compel discovery.  At 
the time the check was disbursed there were no funds in the 
trust account relating to the third client's matter and the 
balance in the trust account was $10.32.  The check was 
presented for payment on December 5, 2001, and resulted in an 
overdraft. 
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
7 
 
¶17 Pursuant to the overdraft notification requirements of 
SCR 20:1.15(j),2 Attorney Pinchar's bank reported the two 
overdrafts on her trust account to the OLR.  On January 2, 2002, 
the OLR staff wrote to Attorney Pinchar at her office address 
requesting an explanation for the overdrafts and the trust 
account 
activity 
four 
months 
after 
Attorney 
Pinchar's 
suspension.  Attorney Pinchar was also asked to produce various 
trust account records.  Attorney Pinchar failed to respond.  On 
February 4, 2002, a second letter was sent to Attorney Pinchar 
via both first-class mail and certified mail.  The certified 
letter was returned as unclaimed.  The first-class letter was 
not returned to the OLR by the post office.  Attorney Pinchar 
failed to respond to the second letter.  
¶18 Attorney 
Pinchar 
was 
personally 
served 
with 
an 
authenticated copy of the OLR's order to answer and complaint.  
She failed to file an answer to the complaint.  Attorney Lance 
S. Grady was appointed referee.  The OLR moved for default 
judgment.  Attorney Pinchar was given notice of the date and 
time of a telephone conference during which the motion for 
default judgment would be heard.  Attempts to contact Attorney 
                                                 
2 SCR 20:1.15(j) provides: 
(j) In the event any properly payable instrument 
is presented against a lawyer trust account containing 
insufficient funds, whether or not the instrument is 
honored, 
the 
financial 
institution 
or 
investment 
institution shall, simultaneously with the customary 
overdraft notice to the depositor or investor, report 
the overdraft to the office of lawyer regulation. 
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
8 
 
Pinchar by telephone, both at her office and home telephone 
numbers, were unsuccessful.  The referee granted the OLR's 
motion for default judgment. 
¶19 The referee filed his findings of fact, conclusions of 
law, and recommendation on January 13, 2003.  The referee 
concluded that by failing to hold in trust $3698 from the first 
client for arrearages owed to his ex-spouse and by converting 
those funds for her own purposes, Attorney Pinchar failed to 
hold the property of clients or third persons in trust, in 
violation of SCR 20:1.15(a).3  The referee also found that by 
                                                 
3 SCR 20:1.15(a) provides: 
(a) A lawyer shall hold in trust, separate from 
the lawyer's own property, that property of clients 
and third persons that is in the lawyer's possession 
in connection with a representation or when acting in 
a fiduciary capacity. Funds held in connection with a 
representation or in a fiduciary capacity include 
funds held as trustee, agent, guardian, personal 
representative of an estate, or otherwise. All funds 
of clients and third persons paid to a lawyer or law 
firm shall be deposited in one or more identifiable 
trust accounts as provided in paragraph (c). The trust 
account shall be maintained in a bank, savings bank, 
trust 
company, 
credit 
union, 
savings 
and 
loan 
association or other investment institution authorized 
to do business and located in Wisconsin. The trust 
account shall be clearly designated as "Client's 
Account" or "Trust Account" or words of similar 
import. No funds belonging to the lawyer or law firm, 
except funds reasonably sufficient to pay or avoid 
imposition 
of 
account 
service 
charges, 
may 
be 
deposited in such an account. Unless the client 
otherwise directs in writing, securities in bearer 
form shall be kept by the attorney in a safe deposit 
box in a bank, savings bank, trust company, credit 
union, 
savings 
and 
loan 
association 
or 
other 
investment institution authorized to do business and 
located in Wisconsin. The safe deposit box shall be 
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
9 
 
converting the first client's funds to her own use, by 
requesting and receiving a fee to handle the second client's 
case after her license to practice law was suspended, and by 
issuing a check to adverse counsel when there were no funds in 
the account related to the third client's case, Attorney Pinchar 
engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or 
misrepresentation, in violation of SCR 20:8.4(c).4   
¶20 The referee also found that by depositing into her 
trust account a personal loan, cash to pay rent, and earned 
fees, Attorney Pinchar commingled personal cash and earned fees 
in her trust account, in violation of SCR 20:1.15(a).  Finally, 
the referee concluded that by failing to respond to the OLR's 
grievance letters, Attorney Pinchar failed to provide relevant 
information during an investigation, in violation of SCR 
22.03(6).5   
                                                                                                                                                             
clearly designated as "Client's Account" or "Trust 
Account" or words of similar import. Other property of 
a client or third person shall be identified as such 
and 
appropriately 
safeguarded. If 
a lawyer 
also 
licensed in another state is entrusted with funds or 
property 
in 
connection 
with 
an 
out-of-state 
representation, this provision shall not supersede the 
trust account rules of the other state. 
4 SCR 20:8.4(c) provides:  "It is professional misconduct 
for a lawyer to: (c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, 
fraud, deceit or misrepresentation." 
5 SCR 
22.03(6) 
provides:  "In 
the 
course 
of 
the 
investigation, 
the 
respondent's wilful 
failure 
to provide 
relevant information, to answer questions fully, or to furnish 
documents and the respondent's misrepresentation in a disclosure 
are misconduct, regardless of the merits of the matters asserted 
in the grievance." 
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
10 
 
¶21 The 
referee 
recommended 
that 
Attorney 
Pinchar's 
Wisconsin law license be revoked and that she be ordered to pay 
the costs of the disciplinary proceeding.  
¶22 We adopt the findings of fact and conclusions of law 
as set forth in the referee's report and recommendation.  
Attorney Pinchar's misconduct with respect to the handling of 
her trust account and her failure to cooperate with the OLR's 
investigation 
are 
very 
serious 
failings 
warranting 
the 
revocation of her license to practice law.  
¶23 IT IS ORDERED that the license of Attorney Judith A. 
Pinchar to practice law in Wisconsin is revoked, effective the 
date of this order.  
¶24 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Attorney Judith A. Pinchar 
comply with the provisions of SCR 22.26 concerning the duties of 
a person whose license to practice law in Wisconsin has been 
revoked. 
¶25 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within 60 days of the date 
of this order Attorney Judith A. Pinchar pay to the Office of 
Lawyer Regulation the costs of this proceeding.  
No. 
02-2950-D   
 
 
 
1