Opinion ID: 1284480
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: s.m. client matter (counts 1 through 3)

Text: ¶ 5 In October 2000 S.M. suffered injuries in an automobile accident. He retained Attorney G.C. who reached an agreement with the adverse driver's insurance carrier for policy limits of $25,000. S.M. also sought recovery from his own underinsurance carrier, Hastings Mutual. Without notifying Attorney G.C., S.M. retained the law firm of Reitz and Mandelman, LLC. Subsequently, Attorney Mandelman's partner, Jeffrey Reitz, advised Attorney G.C. that he had been discharged as S.M.'s attorney. ¶ 6 Attorney G.C., however, had already received the $25,000 settlement check and had determined the amount of the outstanding medical bills to be paid from the proceeds. He offered to disburse the check proceeds through his trust account. Attorney Mandelman declined and, instead, reached an agreement with Attorney G.C. to reduce his one-fourth contingency fee to $5,000 and arrange for the insurance company to reissue the check to the Reitz and Mandelman law firm trust account. ¶ 7 In June 2002 the settlement check was deposited in the Reitz and Mandelman, LLC, trust account. Proceeds were issued as follows: $10,000 to S.M., $5,000 along with $293.56 for costs to Attorney G.C., and $1,250 to Reitz and Mandelman, LLC. This distribution left $8,456.44 to cover medical bills, which were outstanding in the sum of $8,045.66. ¶ 8 Attorney Mandelman's office had performed no work to obtain the insurance settlement check but nonetheless paid itself a $1,250 fee, reflecting the difference between the amount that Attorney G.C. would have received under his one-fourth contingency agreement with S.M. and the $5,000 fee Attorney G.C. agreed to accept. Attorney Mandelman provided no information about the disbursements when he sent S.M. his check. ¶ 9 In October 2003 Attorney Mandelman sent a demand letter to Hastings Mutual seeking $150,000 policy limits. Hastings Mutual responded with a $14,000 offer. After more than two years, no progress had been made toward settlement. Although S.M. asked Attorney Mandelman to file suit on several occasions, Attorney Mandelman failed to do so. In March 2004 Attorney Mandelman wrote to S.M. indicating that he was working diligently on the matter. ¶ 10 After S.M.'s repeated demands, Attorney Mandelman shipped a box of documents to S.M. in June 2006, with a cover letter indicating a $42,000 settlement could be reached. Attorney Mandelman provided no information regarding his impending license suspension and failed to advise that $8,456.44 of S.M.'s funds remained in Attorney Mandelman's trust account. S.M. had previously informed Attorney Mandelman that S.M. required surgery due to the spinal injuries suffered in the accident, but he lacked funds to cover the medical expense. ¶ 11 In July 2006 S.M. and his wife filed a grievance with the OLR and a claim with the Wisconsin Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection regarding the $25,000 settlement check for which they had received no accounting. Eventually, after hiring another attorney, S.M. received the $8,456.44 remaining in Attorney Mandelman's trust account. ¶ 12 The referee concluded the S.M. client matter gave rise to three violations:  Count one: By collecting the $1,250 fee without performing any work, Attorney Mandelman violated former SCR 20:1.5(a), [1] which requires that a lawyer's fee be reasonable.  Count two: By failing to give S.M. a written settlement statement showing the actual or intended disbursements for the $25,000 settlement and retaining $8,456.44 for more than four years, Attorney Mandelman violated former SCR 20:1.15(b) [2] and former SCR 20:1.15(d), [3] which require prompt disbursement of client funds and full accounting upon request; and  Count three: By failing to discuss S.M.'s case and by advising that he had been diligently working on his case when in fact he had not, Attorney Mandelman violated SCR 20:1.4(b), [4] which requires a lawyer to explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions. ¶ 13 The referee also found restitution of $1,250 was owed to S.M.