Wis. attorney loses license for one year

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court this week suspended the license of attorney Eric Forstrom for one year in a reciprocal discipline.

The California Supreme Court suspended Forstrom’s license in February for two years after he was found to have violated the state’s Business and Professions Code.

Forstrom has been licensed to practice in Wisconsin since 2001 and in California since 2005.

According to the Wisconsin Supreme Court order, Forstrom was in a car accident in 2008 in California after which he abandoned his car. He later reported the car stolen and initiated an insurance claim.

Police eventually identified Forstrom as the owner of the vehicle in the hit-and-run and the attorney withdrew his theft claim.

On April 18, 2009, Forstrom pled guilty to felony insurance fraud, but the charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor.

Forstrom’s California suspension includes one year of probation. He had been placed on interim suspension after his criminal conviction.

In June, Wisconsin’s Office of Lawyer Regulation filed a complaint and Forstrom did not contest the reciprocal discipline, but did state the California court expunged his misdemeanor in July.

Forstrom also claimed he had no recollection of being in a car accident at the time he filed his insurance claim, according to the court order. He withdrew the claim after he remembered.

The Wisconsin court did not assess costs of the proceedings on Forstrom.