High court publicly reprimands Arizona lawyer

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court has publicly reprimanded an Arizona lawyer for misconduct he committed in his home state.

Barry Wagner admitted last year to improperly handling a $16,500 personal-injury settlement in Arizona and consented to a reprimand and two years of probation for breaking Arizona’s rules of professional conduct.

However, he did not notify the Office of Lawyer Regulation in Wisconsin, where he is also licensed. The OLR in December filed a complaint charging Wagner, who practices in Phoenix, with failing to notify the OLR that he had been disciplined in Arizona.

The OLR sought reciprocal discipline, asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to publicly reprimand Wagner and order him to follow the terms of the Arizona order, which call for probation and require him to complete additional ethics training.

Wagner and the OLR reached a stipulation filed Feb. 22 in which both parties agreed that the proper level of reciprocal discipline would be a public reprimand, meaning that although Wagner would not be banned from practicing, the decision the court reaches in his case would be made public. Wagner also agreed not to contest the facts and allegations in the OLR’s complaint.

In a per curiam decision Tuesday, Wisconsin Supreme Court justices accepted the stipulation and imposed the public reprimand. The court did not order Wagner to pay costs because the matter was resolved by agreement without the court appointing a referee to preside over the case.