High court suspends Westby attorney’s license for 60 days

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended a Westby lawyer’s license for 60 days.

The disciplinary action taken Tuesday stems from a complaint filed on Nov. 25 by the Office of Lawyer Regulation alleging that Gregory Lunde had violated five rules of professional conduct in the handling of a Westby woman’s estate. He was the administrator of the estate starting in 2002, according to the complaint.

The OLR alleged that even though the insurance company had transferred money from the woman’s life-insurance policy, Lunde had failed to disburse it to the woman’s heirs and had failed to respond to their requests to be given access to it. By 2007, only $1,937.30 was left in the trust account.

It wasn’t until 2014 that Lunde sent a check to one of the heirs. The money, though, came from Lunde’s personal account, not his trust account.

The OLR had asked that the justices suspend Lunde’s license for 60 days. A referee recommended the same discipline, who noted that the misconduct stemmed from Lunde’s failure to properly close his practice when he began working as Vernon County corporation counsel.

The justices agreed Tuesday with both the OLR and the referee and ordered Lunde to also pay $1,357.73 to cover the costs of the disciplinary proceeding.