Madison lawyer denies, admits to some alleged misconduct

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A Madison lawyer has admitted to some of the misconduct that lawyer-regulation authorities are alleging she committed.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation charged Michele Tjader in March with nine counts of misconduct stemming from her representation of three clients. Among other things, Tjader is believed to have failed to return unearned fees, failed to keep clients informed about their cases and failed to surrender a client’s file.

The OLR is calling for a 60-day suspension of Tjader’s license and for Tjader to pay restitution to one of those clients.

Tjader filed an answer to the OLR’s complaint on Aug. 11 , admitting to three counts of misconduct. All of those counts involved allegations that she had failed to give her former clients, when she stopped representing them, the sort of written notifications required by law. According to the compliant, Tjader neglected this responsibility because she had deposited the clients’ advanced fees in her business account rather than a trust account.

Tjader denied the allegations that she had failed to give a client a copy of the materials in that client’s file. She also denied the charges alleging that she had failed to return a part of the unearned advance fees that had been paid to her by a client. Tjader alleges she never received a request for restitution or knew that a restitution order had been entered.

She also denied OLR’s allegations that she had not told that client that the judge in the case, which was a homicide, had issued a restitution order.

According to the OLR, Tjader had paid someone $1,500 out of the $25,000 in advanced fees to do an accident reconstruction that was never completed. Even though that work was left unfinished, Tjader assured the client the full amount would be credited, although it was not. Tjader alleges that all the fees in that case that were earned.

Following a hearing, the referee in the case, Nick Schweitzer, will make recommendations concerning what charges Tjader should be disciplined for and what discipline should be imposed on Tjader.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will review Schweitzer’s recommendations and issue a final decision in the matter. Follow @erikastrebel