Professional Responsibility — public reprimand

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Wisconsin Supreme Court

Civil

Professional Responsibility — public reprimand

Where attorney Reed Martin failed to honor a subpoena and falsely claimed he was out of town on the day of the hearing, a public reprimand is appropriate.

“We agree with the referee and the OLR that a public reprimand is appropriate in this case. Not only did Attorney Martin disobey the command of a lawful subpoena, he made false statements to the OLR and redacted relevant portions of the credit card statement that he later provided to the OLR in order to create the appearance that he was out of town during the entirety of February 21, 2008. There can be no other reason for redacting a gasoline purchase entry for that same date from the credit card statement, especially when Attorney Martin had already claimed to the OLR that anyone who said he/she had seen Attorney Martin in the Milwaukee County Courthouse during the morning of February 21, 2008, must have been mistaken. The purchase of gasoline is not a confidential or embarrassing matter that would lead a person to redact the transaction information, unless the purchase entry shows that the person’s prior statement was not accurate.”

2011AP989-D OLR v. Martin

Per Curiam.

Attorneys: For Complainant: Anich, Matthew F., Ashland; Weigel, William J., Madison; For Respondent: Martin, Reed J., Milwaukee