Attorney Ronald Thompson of Madison, WI; ethical leprechaun

The state of Wisconsin presented Bruno M. Rizzo with a law license in 1978 after he graduated from Harvard University Law School.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) found Ron guilty of the following misconduct

In one matter, Ron subscribed to an Internet-based lawyer referral service and authorized the service to withdraw its monthly fees of $835 or more from his client trust account. Subsequently Ron deposited $3,640 in personal funds to the trust account to cover those monthly fees.

A couple of months later, a client hired Ron regarding a bankruptcy filing and paid him $475. Ron deposited the $475 check to his t rust and account and subsequently wrote a $400 check to his landlord and made two other online payments of $243 to a utility company. These payments led to an overdraft, which Ron covered with funds intended to pay the bankruptcy client’s $299 filing fee.

The filing fee was returned twice by the bank for insufficient funds.

As one would suspect, Ronnie denied using his trust account as a personal account, but bank records revealed that he made 24 payments from it, totaling $9,741.48, for expenses that included rent, groceries, telephone bills, utility bills, and referral fees.

As a consequence of his misconduct, cheerleaders for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Wisconsin Supreme Court punished Ron by gifting him with a complimentary reprimand.

As we speak (ca. February 2014) Ron practices at 701 Spruce Street in Madison, Wisconsin.