Referee: Madison lawyer’s bill is $30K for disciplinary proceeding

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A referee is recommending that a Madison lawyer pay more than $30,000 for her disciplinary proceeding.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation charged Kathleen Wagner in 2014 with three counts of misconduct stemming from her representation of an 87-year-old woman in estate and trust-planning matters. The OLR alleged that Wagner had waited too long before depositing the advance fee into her trust account, charged excessive fees and failed to produce an invoice of services she had provided to the client.

The OLR had asked that the Wisconsin Supreme Court suspend Wagner’s license for 60 days.

But the agency later dismissed the count of misconduct involving charging excessive fees.

The referee in the case, James Boll, filed a report in May finding Wagner’s failure to deposit advanced fees into her trust account did not warrant discipline. He also recommended that Wagner be privately reprimanded for her delay in producing the invoice.

In a separate filing submitted July 3, Boll recommended that Wagner should pay the cost of the proceeding before appeal. The OLR recommended that amount was $31,590.72. Wagner did not file an objection, and Boll adopted the OLR’s recommendation.

However, Wagner is appealing Boll’s decision from May. The matter will be reviewed by the state Supreme Court, which will issue a final decision. Follow @erikastrebel