Suspended lawyer gets felony case dismissed

A felony bad-check charge against suspended Las Vegas lawyer Jeanne Winkler was dismissed last month after she paid about $7,000 in restitution.

"The restitution is paid in full," Chief Deputy District Attorney Bernie Zadrowski said.

The Nevada Supreme Court temporarily suspended Winkler in March amid allegations that she misappropriated more than $200,000 from her attorney-client trust account.

In April, the district attorney's office filed a criminal complaint that accused her of bouncing four checks.

Winkler, 41, previously had submitted an affidavit to the State Bar of Nevada in which she admitted that she misappropriated money from her attorney-client trust account from early 2007 through the end of January 2008.

"As of January 27, 2008, my trust account balance should have been $216,167.05, but there was only approximately $3,000 in the account at that time," Winkler wrote.

According to the affidavit, Winkler transferred money from her trust account to fund an investment and to pay for "ongoing expenses" related to her firm, such as payroll checks, utilities and rent.

Attorney Louis Schneider, who was listed as a victim in Winkler's bad-check case, said he and attorney Tracey Itts contacted the Bar in December after they found a letter on the copy machine at Winkler's law offices. The letter had been sent from the Bar to Winkler and asked her to explain why her trust account was overdrawn.

Schneider, who joined Winkler's firm in September 2007 and was poised to become her partner on Jan. 1, said her trust account should have held $50,000 from his clients and $50,000 from Itts' clients.

Zadrowski said Winkler paid back about $1,160 to Palace Station and about $5,870 to Schneider to resolve her felony case.

The prosecutor said bad-check cases routinely are dismissed for defendants who pay back their victims.

Winkler, who had been licensed to practice law in Nevada since October 1999, primarily handled cases in Family Court.

Phil Pattee, assistant Bar counsel, said 14 grievances have been filed against Winkler. He said the Bar has dismissed one of those grievances and is pursuing disciplinary proceedings in connection with the other 13.

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