Springs lawyer facing hearing on license suspension DEBBIE
KELLEY - The Gazette - September 23, 2009 5:23 PM
A
hearing to determine whether Colorado Springs attorney Christopher
Cipoletti should be suspended from practicing law will be
held Monday in Denver before a disciplinary judge whose office
is affiliated with the Colorado Supreme Court.
The development is the latest in a string of legal actions
that have been ongoing since October 2007, when Cipoletti
was fired as executive director of the American Numismatic
Association, based in Colorado Springs..
The Economic Crimes Division of the Fourth Judicial District
Attorney’s Office opened a criminal investigation into Cipoletti
several months ago, after the ANA added accusations of theft
to a civil lawsuit that names him as a third-party defendant
regarding more than $400,000 in unpaid bills owed to a Denver
law firm.
After nearly five years of heading the organization for coin
collectors and nine years of serving as its general legal
counsel, Cipoletti was terminated two years ago for reasons
that were not publicly disclosed.
Cipoletti claimed his employment contract, which was to have
expired at the end of 2008, was breached without cause and
sought nearly $214,000 in accrued wages and benefits through
arbitration.
A 15-page report the arbitrator issued in May ruled in favor
of the ANA, saying Cipoletti not only was not entitled to
further compensation but also intentionally stole more than
$9,000 from the organization during his employment and breached
his fiduciary obligations and duties of loyalty.
The arbitrator cites instances of Cipoletti double-billing
private legal clients and the ANA for expenses on trips he
took for speaking engagements. The arbitrator also found that
Cipoletti was getting paid by the association while doing
work for clients of his private legal practice.
On Sept. 15, District Court Judge Thomas Kane ordered Cipoletti
to pay $53,550 in arbitration costs but denied the association’s
request for Cipoletti to pay attorney fees. Cipoletti filed
an appeal two days later.
In an affidavit on the suspension of his law license, Cipoletti
said he voluntarily stopped practicing law in August, after
receiving a copy of the complaint the ANA filed with the state’s
Office of Regulation Counsel.
Cipoletti also said in his affidavit that he repaid the money
he had charged on the association’s credit card. But the state’s
attorney said in court documents that because the repayment
took place after the ANA learned of the missing money, it
“amounts to an admission that the respondent did, in fact,
take funds that did not belong to him.”
If Cipoletti’s license is suspended, he will face further
disciplinary action, said Rob McCallum, spokesman for the
State Court Administrator’s Office.
The district attorney’s office is still investigating whether
to file criminal charges, according to senior deputy district
attorney Robyn Cafasso.