Opinion ID: 2072414
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: client c.k.counts xi and xii

Text: [6] ¶ 54. Reitz does not now challenge the referee's findings and conclusions with respect to Count XI; however, he does appeal from the referee's findings regarding Count XII. The facts surrounding these two counts are these: On July 18, 1998, C.K. was injured when his motorcycle was forced off the road by a pickup truck. In January 1999, C.K. retained Mandelman to represent him in a claim against the insurer of the pickup. Later Reitz took over C.K.'s personal injury case when he and Mandelman became partners. Reitz sent C.K.'s medical records, bills, and wage loss verification data that had been collected by Mandelman, to the insurance company. ¶ 55. C.K. testified at the disciplinary hearing that he told Reitz in July 1999 that he would not seek additional medical treatment; C.K. reported that he would instead undertake therapy and strengthening at home. At that point, Reitz had sufficient information to submit a demand on C.K.'s behalf to the insurance company. Nevertheless, from November 1999 through July 2000, Reitz requested additional health and wage loss records from C.K. to be submitted to the insurance company. During that time, he also attempted settlement negotiations with the insurer. C.K. contacted Mandelman in July 2000 to express his dissatisfaction about the slow pace of his case. C.K. stated that he wanted the case promptly moved along. A settlement offer of $12,000 was finally received from the insurer four months later. C.K. rejected that offer. ¶ 56. Subsequently, a new adjuster for the insurance company took over C.K.'s claim and that adjuster reduced the settlement offer to $8000. That offer was refused on February 7, 2001. ¶ 57. During this same period, several healthcare providers contacted C.K. about unpaid accrued fees. One clinic where C.K. had received treatment served C.K. with a summons to appear in court on January 16, 2001. C.K. faxed that summons to Reitz who assured C.K. that he would take care of it. ¶ 58. On January 15, 2001, Reitz spoke with the attorney representing that clinic; Reitz and the other lawyer agreed that the clinic would take a judgment against C.K. but delay docketing it for 30 days so that C.K. could make arrangements to pay it. Subsequently, after not hearing anything from Reitz for 45 days, the clinic docketed the judgment and commenced a garnishment action against C.K. ¶ 59. At the disciplinary hearing, Reitz denied that he had made no reasonable, substantive efforts between February and May, 2001 to advance C.K.'s case. C.K., on the other hand, testified that he thought the clinic's claim would be taken care of by Reitz and he was later surprised to learn from his employer that his wages were being garnished. ¶ 60. C.K. further testified that between February and May, 2001, Reitz took no reasonable steps to advance C.K.'s personal injury case; then the day before the statute of limitations was to run on C.K.'s claim, Reitz commenced an action against the truck driver in Shawano County. Thereafter, aside from responding to interrogatories from the defendants, Reitz did nothing on C.K.'s case for the remainder of the year 2001. ¶ 61. In March 2002, C.K. called the clerk of court in Shawano County to ask about the status of his lawsuit. C.K. was told that if a status conference was not arranged soon, his personal injury case would be dismissed. C.K. called Reitz with that information and Reitz then secured a date for a status conference. C.K.'s case was later settled before trial. ¶ 62. This course of conduct led to Counts XI and XII as alleged in OLR's complaint. As noted, Reitz does not challenge the referee's finding and conclusion that he committed the misconduct as alleged in Count XI; however, Reitz does challenge the referee's finding and conclusion with respect to Count XII.  Count XIBy failing to pursue [C.K.'s] personal injury claim in a timely fashion, Reitz failed to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in his representation of C.K., in violation of SCR 20:1.3.  Count XIIBy failing to communicate with [C.K.], Reitz failed to keep [C.K.] reasonably informed about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information in violation of SCR 20:1.4(a). ¶ 63. Referee Barron found that OLR had established by clear and satisfactory evidence that Reitz had committed both counts of misconduct alleged in Counts XI and XII. Regarding Count XI, the referee noted that despite the fact that C.K.'s case was not complex or difficult, Reitz did little to move the case forward from March of 1999 until its conclusion in February of 2003. According to the referee, it was only because C.K. had taken the initiative in contacting the circuit court to ask about the status of his case, that Reitz learned that the case was about to be dismissed because of his lack of action. The referee asserted that a reasonably diligent lawyer would have taken the responsibility of monitoring the lawsuit without having to rely on his client's self-help measures. ¶ 64. With respect to Count XII, Referee Baron noted that although C.K. testified that he had difficulty contacting Reitz at times, C.K. also acknowledged that on occasions, he had received calls from the firm. However, according to the referee, it was C.K. who usually initiated the telephone calls and then C.K. would speak to office staff about his case. Again, referring to the fact that C.K. had to call the circuit court to find out about his case, the referee concluded that Reitz had failed to keep C.K. reasonably informed about the status of his case as alleged in Count XII. ¶ 65. On appeal, Reitz insists that the evidence and the referee's findings do not support the conclusion that Reitz had failed to communicate with C.K. as alleged in Count XII. Reitz complains that the referee relied on the same underlying factthat C.K. had to contact the circuit court himselfto support the misconduct findings with respect to both Counts XI and XII. Reitz maintains that while that fact may be relevant to the allegation of his lack of diligence in Count XI, it is not relevant to the charge of lack of communication in Count XII. ¶ 66. We are not persuaded by Reitz's argument that the lack of communication violation in Count XII is merely a repackaged allegation of lack of diligence as alleged in Count XI. We note, as OLR points out, that C.K. testified before the referee that he had heard very, very little about the status of his case from Reitz. Most of the information C.K. received came via his calls and discussions with the law firm's staff. These facts, as found by the referee, support the conclusion that Reitz failed to communicate with his client, C.K. We conclude that Reitz committed both violations as alleged in Counts XI and XII.