OLR seeks suspensions for 3 attorneys

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A roundup of recent complaints filed by the Office of Lawyer Regulation:

Glendale attorney faces two-year suspension

Stuart Roitburd, a Glendale attorney who was taken into custody in 2012 for failing to return assets to his dead mother’s estate, faces a two-year suspension of his law license.

In a complaint filed Dec. 5 by the OLR, the agency alleges three counts against Roitburd, who has been licensed in state since 1984. The allegations center around the attorney allegedly failing to account for and repay $43,369.74 owed to his mother’s estate.

Roitburd was appointed personal representative of his mother’s estate following her death in 2006. When a court in 2011 ordered him to make payments to creditors of the estate, he claimed there were accounting errors he needed to fix, but then failed to appear at two subsequent hearings on the matter, according to the OLR’s complaint. He was taken into custody March 15, 2012, and was released five days later on a signature bond.

Though he was court-ordered to pay back the money to the estate, he has yet to do so, according to the OLR complaint. He also has failed to cooperate with the OLR’s investigation of the matter, and his license was temporarily suspended in May 2014 as a result.

The OLR now seeks a two-year suspension, as well as a further court order to repay the $43,369.74 to the estate.

Milwaukee attorney faces one-year suspension

The OLR has alleged 19 counts of misconduct against Michael Hicks, a Milwaukee attorney admitted to practice in state since 1984.

According to an OLR complaint filed Dec. 3, Hicks allegedly failed to communicate with three separate clients on several occasions and failed to cooperate with the OLR on subsequent investigations.

The OLR seeks a one-year suspension of his law license.

According to the complaint, Hicks was publicly reprimanded in 2012 for nine counts of misconduct including neglect, failure to communicate with clients and failing to cooperate with the OLR on three client matters.

OLR asks court for attorney suspension, restitution

Madison attorney David Bartz faces a 60-day suspension of his law license following allegations that he misappropriated client trust account money.

According to an OLR complaint filed Dec. 18, Bartz, who has been licensed to practice since 1989, allegedly wrote checks to himself to empty a personal injury client’s trust account.

The client received $2,191.80 from the Wisconsin Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection as a result. Now the OLR has asked the court to suspend Bartz’s license for 60 days and order him to pay the client $1,081.05 in restitution, and $2,191.30 to the fund.

Thus far, according to the complaint, Bartz has refused to cooperate with the OLR in its investigation into the matter.

According to the complaint, Bartz’s license has been suspended since Oct. 31, 2011, for failure to pay dues.