OLR wants reciprocal discipline for 2 Ariz. attorneys

Listen to this article

The Wisconsin Office of Lawyer Regulation is seeking to reciprocally discipline two Arizona attorneys who were recently publicly reprimanded.

John Curtin, an attorney with Robbins & Curtin PLLC, Phoenix, was put on one year’s probation in May by a disciplinary judge for trust account violations that were purportedly brought on by Stacey Williams, an employee that worked for him for seven years beginning in 2005.

According to court papers filed Tuesday, Williams stole money from the trust account, which caused his account to overdraw and investigators to get involved. The OLR also alleges that Curtin – whose Wisconsin State Bar license is inactive – didn’t notify Wisconsin investigators of the Arizona case within 20 days.

The OLR is asking the Supreme Court to issue reciprocal discipline to Curtin.

Reached for comment Thursday, Curtin said that it was clear that he was the victim in this situation, but that the State Bar of Arizona had only offered a public reprimand or a suspension as punishment.

“That was the best deal that was available,” he said.

• In an unrelated case, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Jerry Albert – who worked in Tucson, Ariz. – is facing reciprocal discipline in Wisconsin.

The court papers filed in his case Monday state that Albert – whose license in Wisconsin is suspended for not paying dues – asked a question during a trial in December 2012 that inappropriately referenced the hearing in a withdrawn guilty plea. The judge declared a mistrial, and the charge was later dropped.

The Arizona bar publicly reprimanded Albert, and the OLR is also alleging that Albert didn’t properly notify Wisconsin investigators within 20 days of his discipline.

Albert could not immediately be reached for comment.