Green Bay lawyer faces 6-month suspension

Listen to this article

A Green Bay lawyer faces a six-month license suspension for behavior that led to three convictions, for advertising on a website that he had been admitted to practice law when his license had been suspended, and for attempting to transfer money out of a trust account while he was in jail.

Matthew Schwitzer graduated from the University Of Maryland School of Law in 2006. He was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin in 2007. His license has been suspended since Oct. 31, 2013, for failing to pay mandatory state-bar fees. Schwitzer also has not completed continuing-education requirements and has failed to cooperate with an Office of Lawyer Regulation investigation.

According to a complaint filed April 2 by the OLR, Schwitzer’s wife and family members found narcotics and drug paraphernalia in a room he had been using. After family members asked him about the discovery, Schwitzer texted his wife and accused her of betraying him and making threats, according to the OLR.

On Aug. 21, 2013, the Brown County District Attorney filed a criminal complaint against Schwitzer, alleging nine counts of criminal conduct, including telephone harassment and possession of drugs and illegally obtained prescription drugs.

On Feb. 4, 2014, Schwitzer was convicted of unlawful phone use, possession of THC and possession of cocaine. The court, according to the complaint, withheld sentencing and put Schwitzer on two years’ probation for each of the counts. Moreover, the OLR began its investigation into the charges filed against Schwitzer in 2013 but was asked to wait until the criminal case ended. When it reopened the case in June, the OLR investigator wrote to Schwitzer twice, but received no response, according to the complaint. The Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an order in September for Schwitzer to show cause. He did not respond and still has not responded to the OLR, according to the complaint.

The three convictions and refusal to cooperate with the OLR were only part of the reason that the agency sought a six-month suspension of Schwitzer’s license. According to the OLR, Schwitzer operated a website, schwitzerlaw.com, which advertised his law practice while his license was suspended.

Schwitzer used to practice law with attorneys Todd Simon and Timothy Feldhausen as part of Schwitzer Simon LLC, according to the complaint. Schwitzer and his brother, Kevan, created the website used by the firm. Only he and his brother had control of the website, according to the complaint.

After Schwitzer’s arrest in 2013, Simon and Feldhausen signed an agreement in May 2014 that called for their separation from Schwitzer Simon LLC. Even after Schwitzer’s license was suspended in 2013, the site continued to operate, stating that Schwitzer was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin, was a member of the State Bar and was admitted to practice before the state Supreme Court.

According to the OLR, Schwitzer, sometime between Jan. 4, 2014 and Aug. 11, 2014, modified the website to advertise a law firm named Matthew R. Schwitzer LLC. But there is no registered Wisconsin limited liability company with that name or a similar name. The website continued to advertise that Schwitzer was an attorney able to practice law in the state.

The complaint also details how in August 2013, Schwitzer, while he was in the Brown County Jail, used a fellow inmate’s cellphone, which had been smuggled in, to access his firm’s trust account and transferred $2,000 into his personal account.

Simon or Feldhausen, according to the OLR, was able to get the bank to reverse the transaction. According to Supreme Court rules, disbursements from a trust account cannot be made by phone or Internet connection. The OLR, according to the complaint, could not determine whether Schwitzer had used the phone, or rather an Internet connection through the phone, to initiate the transaction.

Schwitzer could not immediately be reached Thursday. Once he is served the complaint he has 20 days to respond. Follow @erikastrebel