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Ex-Stafford Rosenbaum partner pleads no contest to misconduct charges

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//January 15, 2018//

Ex-Stafford Rosenbaum partner pleads no contest to misconduct charges

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//January 15, 2018//

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A Madison lawyer facing allegations of converting money belonging to her former employer is pleading no contest to two charges of misconduct.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a complaint in June charging Amie Trupke with two counts of misconduct while she was a partner at Madison-based Stafford Rosenbaum from 2002 to 2016.

The OLR alleged that Trupke had not told her partners or firm that she had earned more than $70,000 over three years by working as an independent reviewer for a service offered by the American Arbitration Association. The OLR also alleges that Trupke misled the managing partner at the firm about that work.

The OLR is seeking a year-long suspension of Trupke’s license.

Trupke, represented by James Bartzen of Madison-based Boardman & Clark, filed an answer in October, admitting to the OLR’s allegations.

On Jan. 2, Trupke and the OLR filed a stipulation in which Trupke pleaded no contest to the two charges the OLR had filed against her and admitted to the allegations in the OLR’s complaint. She also stated that she would not be contesting the OLR’s recommendation for a year-long suspension.

The stipulation notes that Trupke thought she was allowed to keep compensation for the AAA job because it was educational and similar to work that she and other colleagues had done for a law school. The filing also notes that although the OLR contends that her firm did not know about the AAA work, Trupke contends the firm knew about it because the tax documents connected to the work were sent to the firm’s accounting department.

The OLR and Trupke are asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to consider the OLR’s complaint and accept the stipulation without appointing a referee in the matter. Usually, the court appoints a referee, who makes findings of fact and conclusions of law, then the court reviews those findings and conclusions before issuing a final decision in the matter.

But the rules allow the court to consider a complaint and stipulation without their first being reviewed by a referee. The court may choose to adopt a stipulation, modify it, or reject it. If it rejects the stipulation, the matter is then sent to a referee. The matter would then proceed as if the OLR had only filed a complaint.

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