Supreme Court reinstates Brookfield attorney’s license

Listen to this article

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has reinstated Brookfield attorney Tom Warmington’s license, 14 years after he lost it for misappropriating client money.

The court granted Warmington’s petition for reinstatement Sept. 20, but imposed restrictions on his practice.

For the next three years, he cannot operate as sole practitioner. In a firm setting, Warmington must be directly supervised by a licensed attorney approved by the Office of Lawyer Regulation, according to the court order.

Warmington lost his license in 1997 due to five misconduct complaints, including transferring client money for his own use, failure to respond to client calls regarding settlement proceeds and failing to keep client money in a trust account.

He also failed to respond to letters and calls from the Wisconsin Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility, the predecessor to OLR.

In its ruling, the court noted that Warmington, who began practicing in 1977, had been disciplined twice prior to his 1997 revocation.

In 1991 he consented to a public reprimand for failing to communicate with clients who had retained him to pursue a medical malpractice action and misrepresenting that he had filed an
action. Warmington also failed to cooperate with BAPR’s investigation of the complaint.

In 1995, Warmington consented to a second public reprimand for failing to notify a client of money he had collected on the client’s behalf, as well as failing to respond to inquiries from BAPR.

Warmington was order by the court to pay $3,346.90 for the cost of the reinstatement proceedings.