Referee recommends 6-month suspension for retired Madison-area lawyer

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A referee is recommending that a retired Madison-area attorney be suspended for six months, three months less than what lawyer-regulators had asked for.

The recommendation stems from an Office of Lawyer Regulation complaint filed last year charging Michael Erhard with committing 11 counts of misconduct, most of them violations of trust-accounting rules, while he was a member and owner of the Madison-based law firm Erhard and Payette.

The OLR is asking that Erhard’s license be suspended for nine months.

Erhard filed a response to the complaint in August, admitting to the violations. He is being represented by Edward Hannan of Waukesha-based Hannan Legal.

There was a hearing in December before William Eich, the court-appointed referee in the case.

Although both the OLR and Erhard agreed on the misconduct committed, the two disagreed on the discipline Eich ought to recommend. Erhard, noting that the rule violations were negligent and not intentional, has contended that he should be publicly reprimanded, meaning that there would be no ban on practicing but the court’s decision would be made public.

Erhard also suggested that the public reprimand be conditioned on his never in the future taking responsibility for fiduciary-property, trust-property and similar accounts in the future.

Eich submitted a report on Feb. 21 making the same recommendations and also calling for Erhard’s license to be suspended for six months.

Eich noted that he agreed with the OLR that the eleven charges constituted a pattern of misconduct that warranted disciplinary actions beyond a public reprimand. However, Erhard’s lack of intent to break the rules, his cooperation with OLR and the restitution Erhard were mitigating factors, Eich wrote.

Erhard can still choose to file an appeal. Whatever he does, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will review Eich’s decision and issue a final decision in the matter. Follow @erikastrebel