High court to decide on discipline for Arizona attorney

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court is moving toward deciding this week whether a lawyer’s license should be suspended over misconduct in his home state.

The justices will issue a decision on Friday in the case of attorney Stephen Manion, who had maintained a practice in Laveen, Ariz.

According to a complaint filed in June by the Office of Lawyer Regulation, Manion, who has been licensed to practice in Wisconsin since 1998, failed to report that his Arizona license had been suspended in March over two counts of misconduct involving a client who was an inmate.

The misconduct included allowing his client to communicate from jail by using an intermediary who Manion knew had been convicted of fraud. The actions caused his client to lose money, according to the complaint.

Also, Manion helped another inmate client collect a share of an inheritance by circumventing prison rules, breaking various trust-account rules in the process and causing that client also to lose money.

The misconduct prompted the Arizona Supreme Court to suspend Manion’s license for six months and one day.

The OLR’s complaint asked that the Wisconsin Supreme Court impose reciprocal discipline on Manion.

Manion is in the process of resigning his law license. Follow @erikastrebel