Supreme Court reinstates Madison lawyer suspended for mishandling client funds

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has reinstated the law license of a Madison lawyer suspended for mishandling nearly $377,000 in client funds.

The reinstatement of Michael Bauer, an eminent-domain lawyer, is effective on Tuesday, with the condition that he provide quarterly trust-account and business-accounting records to the Office of Lawyer Regulation for the next two years.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a disciplinary complaint against Bauer in 2016, accusing him of mishandling hundreds of thousands of dollars in client funds. Following litigation, it was found that Bauer committed 22 counts of misconduct and converted $376,818.16. In 2018, the Wisconsin Supreme Court punished him with a one-year suspension of his law license.

“Although the dollar amount is staggeringly high, it bears noting that it was undisputed that Attorney Bauer’s clients received all monies due to them,” the high court’s opinion regarding his reinstatement said.

In April 2019, Bauer filed a petition seeking reinstatement of his Wisconsin law license. The OLR initially opposed the petition, according to the state Supreme Court opinion, and an evidentiary hearing was held. Bauer and several character witnesses testified in support of his reinstatement.

The referee in the case concluded Bauer satisfied his burden of proof and met the requirements for reinstatement. The referee also discussed two of the OLR’s concerns about reinstating Bauer – his access to client-trust accounts in light of his high level of debt and the serious nature of his underlying misconduct.

As the referee put it, Bauer “seemed to constantly be in the process of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ and, in some cases, to pay Michael Bauer.”

“However, once confronted, Attorney Bauer admitted guilt as to many of the allegations; no clients lost funds; he fully cooperated with the OLR investigation; and he expressed remorse for his misbehavior,” the state Supreme Court’s opinion said. “He had no prior discipline over what had been an otherwise distinguished 20-year legal career.”

The referee noted that Bauer had filed for bankruptcy, which was accepted as evidence that Bauer had a plan to deal with his personal finances. Bauer also served his imposed one-year suspension plus an additional six months because the reinstatement was put on hold because of the bankruptcy filing.

Beyond complying with the conditions of reinstatement, Bauer must pay $4,093.40 in costs of the proceeding. Justice Jill Karofsky did not participate in the decision. Follow @WLJReporter