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High court reinstates Milwaukee attorney

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//June 4, 2015//

High court reinstates Milwaukee attorney

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//June 4, 2015//

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday reinstated a Milwaukee attorney’s license to practice law.

Matthew Siderits’ license was suspended Jan. 4, 2013, for misrepresenting billable hours in 2007 and 2008 so he could earn bonuses while he was treasurer at Otjen, Van Ert & Weir SC, Milwaukee.

The firm fired Siderits in 2009 for using his position to manipulate his compensation. According to court records, the bonuses totaled $46,978 for working more than 1,800 billable hours over those two years.

Siderits filed a petition for reinstatement of his license on Oct. 15. A public hearing was held in February and a court-appointed referee filed a report in March recommending that Siderits be reinstated.

“Mr. Siderits has paid a very significant price for his professional misconduct … His suspension has resulted in significant economic hardship to him and his family,” according to the referee’s report, “and reinstatement of his law license will allow him not only to resume his career as an attorney, but to be better able to adequately support his wife and children and assist his children to attend college.”

Siderits, reached Thursday, had no comment on the court’s reinstatement of his license. He said he has been working for Medical Systems Inc., Greenfield, a medical expert company.

According to court records, Siderits intends to resume his practice in worker’s compensation law. He earned his degree from Marquette University Law School in 1996.

The justices also ordered him to pay $2,585.56, the cost of the disciplinary proceedings.

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