## Facts

- Matthew C. Siderits, a Wisconsin-licensed attorney employed at a law firm, was subject to firm bonus eligibility tied to meeting annual billable-hour thresholds.
- In 2008, he entered additional time into the firm’s accounting system on certain matters to increase his recorded hours and qualify for a bonus.
- In 2009, he deleted billable time he had actually worked, effectively shifting time between years and preventing client billing for some work.
- He made these accounting changes unilaterally and without informing or obtaining consent from firm management or other firm members.
- As a result of the recorded time, Siderits received approximately $47,000 in bonuses over two years, while the firm lost revenue because some deleted time was never billed.
- The Office of Lawyer Regulation (OLR) filed a five-count disciplinary complaint alleging billing-related misconduct, including conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
- A referee conducted an evidentiary hearing, found all five counts proven by clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence, and recommended an 18-month suspension.

## Issues

1. Whether manipulating internal law-firm billing and accounting records to qualify for bonuses, without disclosure to the firm, constitutes professional misconduct under the Rules of Professional Conduct, including dishonesty-based violations.
2. What length of suspension and other discipline is appropriate given the nature, duration, and financial impact of the misconduct and any aggravating or mitigating factors.
3. Whether a lawyer’s duties of honesty and loyalty extend to the lawyer’s law firm in the context of compensation and billing records.

## Decision

- The Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted the referee’s findings of fact (not clearly erroneous) and agreed that the proven facts established misconduct on all five counts.
- The Court concluded that Siderits’s conduct violated the Rules of Professional Conduct, including SCR 20:8.4(c) (dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation).
- The Court modified the recommended discipline by reducing the suspension from 18 months to a 12-month suspension of Siderits’s license.
- The Court ordered Siderits to pay the full costs of the proceeding, $18,916.68 (as of October 22, 2012).

## Legal Principles

- A lawyer’s manipulation of law-firm billing and accounting records for personal financial benefit may constitute professional misconduct, even when not designed to overbill clients.
- Conduct that misrepresents recorded billable time or compensation eligibility can violate SCR 20:8.4(c) as dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
- Lawyers owe duties of honesty and loyalty that apply to relationships beyond clients and courts, including fiduciary-type obligations to their law firms regarding compensation-related records and reporting.
- In attorney discipline, factual findings by a referee are accepted unless clearly erroneous, while conclusions of law and the appropriate sanction are determined by the court.
- Sanctions are set to protect the public and the integrity of the profession and to deter similar misconduct, with aggravating and mitigating factors affecting the suspension length.

## Conclusion

The court held that an attorney’s intentional alteration and concealment of internal billing records to obtain bonuses constitutes serious professional misconduct and warranted a 12-month suspension and assessment of full costs.


In re Disciplinary Proceedings Against Siderits, 2013 WI 2, 345 Wis. 2d 89, 824 N.W.2d 812 (Wis. 2013)