Referee: Green Bay attorney broke rules, should be suspended

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A court-appointed referee is recommending to the Wisconsin Supreme Court that a Green Bay attorney’s license be suspended.

The recommendation stems from an Office of Lawyer Regulation complaint filed in April 2015 alleging that the attorney, Matthew Schwitzer, engaged in four instances of misconduct.

The complaint alleged that he engaged in behavior that led to three convictions, advertised on a website that he was admitted to practice law in Wisconsin when his license had in been suspended, tried to transfer money out of a trust account while he was in jail and failed to cooperate with an OLR investigation.

The OLR had asked that Schwitzer’s license be suspended for six months.

Schwitzer had been admitted to practice law in Wisconsin since 2007 until he failed in 2013 to pay mandatory bar fees and complete continuing legal-education requirements. According to court records, Schwitzer admitted in October of last year to committing all the misdeeds listed in the complaint and accepted the level of discipline the OLR had sought.

The court-appointed referee in the case, John Goodman, agreed with the OLR that all four counts of misconduct had occurred and recommended to the Wisconsin Supreme Court that Schwitzer’s license be suspended for six months, according to a report filed Jan. 8.

The OLR is not seeking any restitution in the matter.

Schwitzer has until Wednesday to appeal the referee’s finding, according to court records. Follow @erikastrebel