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High court publicly reprimands DePere attorney

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//February 1, 2017//

High court publicly reprimands DePere attorney

By: Erika Strebel, [email protected]//February 1, 2017//

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has chosen to publicly reprimand a DePere attorney, rather than suspend his license.

Regulators had charged the attorney Ty Willihnganz in December 2015 with four counts of misconduct relating to his representation of a friend and a Green Bay startup that were defendants in a civil lawsuit in Brown County Circuit Court.

According to the complaint, Willihnganz’s license was administratively suspended in June 2013 for failing to report the completion of continuing legal-education requirements.

The OLR alleged that Willihnganz had failed to notify his client, opposing counsel and Brown County Circuit Court officials in writing that his license had been suspended. He had also continued practicing, appearing at conferences on behalf of his client and sending letters and documents to opposing counsel.

Willihnganz further gave a deposition in the case and lied about not having been professionally disciplined after 2004. He had also been privately reprimanded in 2008.

In its complaint, the OLR had asked for a 60-day suspension of his license.

Willihnganz admitted to the count of misconduct involving his failure to take measures to protect the interests of his clients when he stopped representing them.

A referee later dismissed the charge of misconduct involving Willihnganz’s alleged lying about not having been disciplined after 2004. According to the referee, the record did not indicate whether Willihnganz remembered or forgot about the discipline from 2008.

In the end, the referee recommended that the justices publicly reprimand Willihnganz.

The justices agreed with the referee on Tuesday and ordered Willihnganz to pay the full cost of the disciplinary proceeding, which was $5,028.97 in October last year.

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