Title: Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Jenelle Glasbrenner
Citation: 2006 WI 35
Docket Number: 2003AP002647-D
State: Wisconsin
Issuer: Wisconsin Supreme Court
Date: May 2, 2006

2006 WI 35 
 
SUPREME COURT OF WISCONSIN 
 
 
 
 
 
CASE NO.: 
2003AP2647-D 
 
 
COMPLETE TITLE: 
 
 
In the Matter of Disciplinary Proceedings 
Against Jenelle Glasbrenner, Attorney at Law: 
 
 
Office of Lawyer Regulation, 
          Complainant, 
     v. 
Jenelle Glasbrenner, 
          Respondent. 
 
 
 
 
DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST GLASBRENNER 
 
 
OPINION FILED: 
May 2, 2006   
SUBMITTED ON BRIEFS: 
        
ORAL ARGUMENT: 
        
 
 
SOURCE OF APPEAL: 
 
 
COURT: 
        
 
COUNTY: 
        
 
JUDGE: 
        
 
 
 
JUSTICES: 
 
 
CONCURRED: 
        
 
DISSENTED: 
        
 
NOT PARTICIPATING: CROOKS, J., did not participate.   
 
 
 
ATTORNEYS: 
 
      
 
 
2006 WI 35
NOTICE 
This opinion is subject to further 
editing and modification.  The final 
version will appear in the bound 
volume of the official reports.   
No.  2003AP2647-D  
 
 
STATE OF WISCONSIN  
 
 
   : 
IN SUPREME COURT 
 
 
In the Matter of Disciplinary Proceedings 
Against Jenelle Glasbrenner, Attorney at Law: 
 
Office of Lawyer Regulation, 
 
          Complainant, 
 
     v. 
 
Jenelle Glasbrenner, 
 
          Respondent. 
 
FILED 
 
MAY 2, 2006 
 
Cornelia G. Clark 
Clerk of Supreme Court 
 
 
 
 
 
ATTORNEY disciplinary proceeding.   Reinstatement granted 
upon conditions.   
 
¶1 
PER 
CURIAM.   We 
review 
a 
referee's 
report 
recommending that Jenelle Glasbrenner's license to practice law 
in Wisconsin be reinstated.  The Office of Lawyer Regulation 
(OLR) and the Board of Bar Examiners (BBE) have both joined in 
that favorable recommendation. 
¶2 
We 
adopt 
the 
referee's 
findings 
of 
fact 
and 
conclusions of law and conclude that Attorney Glasbrenner's 
license to practice law should be reinstated upon the conditions 
No. 
2003AP2647-D   
 
2 
 
recommended by the referee.  We further direct Attorney 
Glasbrenner to pay the costs of the reinstatement proceeding, 
which total $2168.55 as of March 3, 2006. 
¶3 
Attorney Glasbrenner was admitted to practice law in 
Wisconsin in 1999.  On April 22, 2005, this court suspended her 
license to practice law for six months for professional 
misconduct consisting of over billing the Office of the 
Wisconsin State Public Defender (SPD) for work she had performed 
for 
them. 
 
See 
In 
re 
Disciplinary 
Proceedings 
Against 
Glasbrenner, 2005 WI 50, 280 Wis. 2d 37, 695 N.W.2d 291. 
¶4 
Attorney Glasbrenner now seeks reinstatement of her 
license to practice law in Wisconsin.  Judith Sperling-Newton 
was appointed referee in the matter and conducted a formal 
hearing on the reinstatement petition.  The referee filed her 
report and recommendation on February 13, 2006, and recommended 
that this court grant the petition for reinstatement.  As noted 
above, the OLR and the BBE have both joined in that favorable 
recommendation. 
¶5 
SCR 22.31(1) provides the standard to be met for 
reinstatement of a law license.  The petitioner has the burden 
of 
demonstrating 
"by 
clear, 
satisfactory, 
and 
convincing 
evidence" that the lawyer has the moral character to practice 
law, that the lawyer's resumption of the practice of law will 
not 
be 
detrimental 
to 
the 
administration 
of 
justice 
or 
subversive of the public interest, and that the lawyer has 
complied with SCR 22.26 and the terms of the suspension.  In 
addition, SCR 22.29(4) sets forth related requirements that a 
No. 
2003AP2647-D   
 
3 
 
petition for reinstatement must show.  All of these additional 
requirements are effectively incorporated into SCR 22.31(1).1   
¶6 
The referee in this case concluded that Attorney 
Glasbrenner had met all of the criteria for reinstatement, 
including repaying the SPD for the amounts over billed and 
paying the costs of the disciplinary proceeding.  The referee 
concluded 
that 
Attorney 
Glasbrenner 
met 
her 
burden 
of 
demonstrating that her license to practice law in Wisconsin 
should be reinstated.  The referee specifically found that 
Attorney Glasbrenner was genuinely remorseful about her conduct 
and that she did not appear to be making excuses or avoiding 
responsibility for her actions.  The referee also noted that 
Attorney Glasbrenner sought an attorney mentor to assist her in 
complying with the rules of professional conduct and that she 
                                                 
1 SCR 22.31(1) provides:  Reinstatement hearing. 
 
(1) The 
petitioner 
has 
the 
burden 
of 
demonstrating, by clear, satisfactory, and convincing 
evidence, all of the following: 
(a) That he or she has the moral character to 
practice law in Wisconsin. 
(b) That his or her resumption of the practice 
of law will not be detrimental to the administration 
of justice or subversive of the public interest. 
 
(c) That his or her representations in the 
petition, including the representations required by 
SCR 
22.29(4)(a) 
to 
(m) 
and 
22.29(5), 
are 
substantiated. 
 
(d) That he or she has complied fully with the 
terms of the order of suspension or revocation and 
with the requirements of SCR 22.26.  
No. 
2003AP2647-D   
 
4 
 
has said she intends to continue using the attorney mentor if 
her license to practice is reinstated.   
¶7 
The referee recommended that Attorney Glasbrenner's 
license to practice law be reinstated with the following 
conditions: 
(1) that 
she 
keep 
formal, 
accurate, 
and 
contemporaneous accounting of her time to be entered into her 
law firm's billing system; and (2) that the OLR have the 
authority, for two years following her reinstatement, to 
supervise her in this regard and to require that she report to 
the OLR as requested with respect to her billing practices. 
¶8 
After careful review of the record we agree that 
Attorney Glasbrenner has established by clear, satisfactory, and 
convincing evidence that she has satisfied all the criteria 
necessary 
for 
reinstatement. 
 
Accordingly, 
we 
adopt 
the 
referee's findings of fact and conclusions of law and we accept 
the referee's recommendation to reinstate Attorney Glasbrenner's 
license to practice law in Wisconsin, subject to the conditions 
recommended by the referee.  We further direct Attorney 
Glasbrenner to pay the costs of the reinstatement proceeding. 
¶9 
IT IS ORDERED that the petition for reinstatement of 
the license of Jenelle Glasbrenner to practice law in Wisconsin 
is granted, effective the date of this order. 
¶10 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the reinstatement of 
Attorney Glasbrenner's license to practice law be subject to the 
following conditions: (1) that she keep formal, accurate, and 
contemporaneous accounting of her time to be entered into her 
law firm's billing system; and (2) that the OLR have the 
No. 
2003AP2647-D   
 
5 
 
authority, for two years following her reinstatement, to 
supervise her in this regard and to require that she report to 
the OLR as requested with respect to her billing practices. 
¶11 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that within six months of the 
date of this order Jenelle Glasbrenner pay to the Office of 
Lawyer Regulation the costs of this proceeding.  If the costs 
are not paid within the time specified, and absent a showing to 
this court of her inability to pay the costs within that time, 
the license of Jenelle Glasbrenner to practice law in Wisconsin 
shall be suspended until further order of the court. 
¶12 N. PATRICK CROOKS, J., did not participate. 
 
No. 
2003AP2647-D   
 
 
 
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