High court suspends Beloit attorney’s license

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has suspended a Beloit attorney’s license for 60 days.

Tuesday’s discipline stems from a complaint the Office of Lawyer Regulation filed in September charging Suzanne Kitto with five counts of misconduct, all involving improper trust-account practices.

According to the allegations, Kitto was supposed to be holding money in trust for some clients but instead used that it to pay her real-estate taxes, rent and personal debts.

The OLR sought a 60-day suspension of her license and called on the high court to order Kitto to pay restitution.

Kitto, who is representing herself, filed an answer to the charges in October, admitting to the five rule violations alleged by the OLR but contending that she had already paid restitution to the clients named in the complaint.

Later, Kitto and the OLR reached a stipulation in which Kitto agreed to let the referee use the allegations laid out in the complaint, according to court documents filed in January. The OLR dropped its request for restitution, having confirmed with the client that full restitution was paid.

The only matter then left before the court-appointed referee in the case, William Eich, was what disciplinary measures ought to be imposed. Kitto contended that the punishment should be a public reprimand, which would not cause her to be barred from practicing law. Any final decision in the case would merely be made a public record.

The OLR, on the other hand, stayed firm on its request for a 60-day license suspension, which is the shortest license suspension the high court may impose on lawyers found to have committed misconduct.

Eich filed a repor in March recommending that Kitto’s license be suspended for 60 days, noting commingling and converting client money, as Kitto had done, constituted serious misconduct. He noted that such actions, on their own, have resulted in 60-day suspensions in other cases.

Kitto did not appeal Eich’s recommendations. The court, in a per curiam decision, agreed with the recommendations on Tuesday. The justices suspended Kitto’s license for 60 days starting July 31. They also ordered her to pay for the disciplinary proceeding’s cost, which was $1,310.10 on April 17. Follow @erikastrebel