Referee: Suspended lawyer should pay more than $7K in restitution

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A referee is recommending that a suspended lawyer out of Milwaukee pay more than $7,000 back to a client.

Lawyer-regulation authorities had initially charged Mark Ruppelt in 2015 with five counts of misconduct but added 13 more charges six months later. The misconduct, all of which stemmed from Ruppelt’s dealings with a single client, occurred while Ruppelt had been a shareholder at Gatzke & Ruppelt in Waukesha.

The OLR’s allegations included that Ruppelt took $50,000 worth of client money he was supposed to be holding in trust for the client, used it to purchase a home and told the agency the money would be for “expert fees/trial testimony.”

He was also alleged to have mishandled more than $100,000 worth of client money, liquidated the client’s life-insurance policy without that client’s permission and charged an unreasonable fee of $395 per hour for the work of an associate and his legal assistant.

The OLR sought a 15-month suspension of Ruppelt’s license and $10,000 in restitution to the client but later reached a stipulation with Ruppelt that instead asked for a year-long suspension. The OLR dismissed two of the misconduct charges.

However, a referee recommended in September that Ruppelt’s license be suspended for 15 months. Ruppelt appealed that decision, contending, among other things, that the recommendation contained conclusions that could not have been drawn from the stipulation the court had relied on.

However, the justices rejected Ruppelt’s arguments in a decision issued in July and agreed with the referee, suspending Ruppelt’s license for 15 months and ordering him to pay for the proceeding.

However, they sent the case back to Winiarski, instructing him to decide exactly what restitution Ruppelt owed.

The OLR and Ruppelt, who is represented by Terry Johnson of Peterson Johnson & Murray in Milwaukee, filed a stipulation in November in which they agreed that Ruppelt’s firm had received $185,560.83 from the client and that the client was overbilled by $8,532.22.

Ruppelt had asked that the restitution be reduced by $1,185 for legal services that were rendered but not on record with the firm and by an additional $2,000 for services performed after his firm had dissolved. He contended that he no longer had possession of the data relating to the client’s representation and that the firm’s historical billing data had been destroyed after being infected with a computer virus.

Winiarski filed a supplemental report on Dec. 11 finding that the $1,185 adjustment was reasonable but the second adjustment was “vague and unsupported by any evidence.” In all, Winiarski found Ruppelt should pay $7,347.22 in restitution.

He also recommended that Ruppelt pay all costs associated with the proceedings related to restitution.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will review Winiarski’s recommendations and make a final decision on the matter of restitution. Follow @erikastrebel