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IOWA SUPREME COURT BD. v. GOTTSCHALK9/18/1996
The Iowa Board of Professional Ethics and Conduct (board) charged attorney Don E. Gottschalk with converting $1000 in client trust funds. The board also charged Gottschalk with falsely reporting he monthly reconciled his client trust account. Following a hearing, a division of the Grievance Commission (commission) found evidence substantiated the charges and recommended Gottschalk's license be suspended for not less than one year. On review we concur with the commission's findings and recommended sanctions.
Gottschalk has appealed the matters before us pursuant to Iowa Supreme Court Rule 118.11. Our review is therefore de novo. Iowa Sup. Ct. R. 118.11. We give respectful consideration to commission recommendations, but we ultimately decide what discipline is appropriate under the unique facts of each case. Iowa Supreme Ct. Bd. of Professional Ethics & Conduct v. Scheetz, 549 N.W.2d 828, 832 (Iowa 1996). In each case, we are guided by the following standards in determining whether discipline is warranted: "the nature of the alleged violation, the need for deterrence, protection of the public, maintenance of the reputation of the bar as a whole and the respondent's fitness to continue in the practice of law." Committee on Professional Ethics & Conduct v. Blomker, 379 N.W.2d 19, 21 (Iowa 1985).
The board must prove its allegations of lawyer misconduct by a convincing preponderance of the evidence. Committee on Professional Ethics & Conduct v. Conzett, 476 N.W.2d 43, 44 (Iowa 1991). In our de novo review, we find the following facts from the record.
Gottschalk has practiced law in this state since 1967. He is a Cedar Falls sole practitioner sharing office space with several other lawyers. Together they maintained a joint office account for paying office expenses. Each week each attorney deposited money into this account to cover such things as support staff salaries, utilities, and phone bills. Gottschalk maintained a separate client trust account and did the bookkeeping for that account. He kept individual ledgers for each client's funds in this account.
On November 24, 1993, the balance of the joint office account was $7.52. The same day, Gottschalk deposited $1000 into this account after writing a check to himself for this amount from his client trust account. Gottschalk had neither a court order nor a client authorization to withdraw the $1000. Gottschalk did not record the $1000 withdrawal on any particular client's ledger in the trust account. The $1000 was immediately expended for support staff wages and other office expenses.
Gottschalk believed he could shortly reimburse the client trust account for the $1000 he took. He was originally banking on an imminent personal injury settlement for a client named Polk. The settlement was delayed because the other party's insurance company needed more information. Gottschalk received the settlement check in March 1994.
On April 8, 1994, Gottschalk reimbursed the trust account from fees he had coming from a settlement involving a client named Valdaar. The settlements in the Polk and Valdaar case came several days apart. [553 NW2d Page 324]
On May 3 client security auditor Marvin Bomgaars appeared at Gottschalk's office on another matter. While he was there, Bomgaars proceeded to audit Gottschalk's trust account. During that audit, Bomgaars discovered the unauthorized $1000 withdrawal that Gottschalk eventually conceded was due to his conversion of trust funds.
In February 1994 Gottschalk filed his annual statement and questionnaire with the Client Security and Attorney Disciplinary Commission. In that statement Gottschalk certified that he monthly reconc
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