Madison attorney faces private reprimand over alleged misconduct

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A Madison attorney faces a private reprimand over nine counts of alleged misconduct.

According to an OLR complaint filed Nov. 3, the nine counts stem from Jason Gonzalez’s handling of two clients’ cases.

The first five counts involve a client who hired Gonzalez in 2013 to represent him in a drunken-driving case in Sauk County. The client signed a fee agreement that required the payment of a $2,500 advanced fee and that Gonzalez provide a written accounting of fees at the end of his representation, according to the OLR.

The complaint alleges that, in addition to failing to provide that accounting of fees, Gonzalez failed to respond to the client’s requests for information about the progress of the case and failed to diligently pursue the client’s case. Gonzalez later withdrew from the case at the client’s request and the court appointed new counsel for the client, who eventually pleaded no contest and was convicted in 2014.

The client also contacted Gonzalez about two municipal citations he had received in 2013 in Horicon, though he did not sign a written fee agreement, according to the complaint.

Gonzalez told the client he had entered not guilty pleas on both citations but never actually had, according to the complaint. Gonzalez also told the client he did not need to appear at a hearing because of the not-guilty pleas, but the municipal court found the client had defaulted on the citations and ordered him to pay fines, the OLR alleges.

When the OLR attempted to investigate both matters, the complaint alleges Gonzalez said that he did not represent the client in the citation cases. Also, Gonzalez provided a letter supposedly sent to the client at an old address and later said the client neither requested a refund nor contacted him to say he had not earned the entire advanced fee.

The remaining counts of alleged misconduct involve a second client who hired Gonzalez to represent him in sex-assault and paternity cases.

According to the OLR, Gonzalez failed to research the meaning of “attempt” in the sex-assault case.

The client had been charged with four felonies, including three charges of child enticement, one of which was for attempted child enticement.

The client later pleaded no contest to attempted child enticement and exposing a child to harmful materials. The client was sentenced to six years in jail.

The client appealed the conviction. This time he was represented by Cole Ruby, an attorney appointed by the State Public Defender. One of his arguments was that Gonzalez had been ineffective because there was no reason for the attempted child-enticement charges, and that he could have been dismissed.

At a 2016 post-conviction hearing, Gonzalez admitted that he had failed to do any case-law research on the matter.

With regard to the paternity case, the court had allowed the client to have phone contact with his daughter and had ordered Gonzalez to draft an order. Gonzalez failed to do so and failed to respond to the client’s attempts to get in touch with him about the matter, according to the OLR.

Opposing counsel filed a motion for sanctions and attorney fees against Gonzalez, which the court later granted.

The client filed a grievance with the OLR, which attempted to investigate the matter. The OLR alleges Gonzalez lied, telling OLR that the client had not attempted to get in touch with him. He also did not tell the OLR that he had failed to submit an order in the client’s case.

The OLR is asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to publicly reprimand Gonzalez.

When reached on Wednesday, Gonzalez declined to comment on the complaint. He said he will be represented by Peyton Engel and Marcus Berghahn of Hurley, Burish and Stanton in Madison.

Gonzalez, who earned his degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School, is also an alderman on Fitchburg’s Common Council. According to the Wisconsin State Bar and OLR, his license is active and in good standing. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has not previously disciplined him. Follow @erikastrebel