Vast And Troubling

The Wisconsin Supreme Court revoked the license of an attorney who defaulted on a multitude of ethics charges

The scope of Attorney Magaña’s misconduct——which, again, is deemed admitted here——is vast and troubling. Given the volume of uncontested allegations in the OLR’s 61-page amended complaint, we do not repeat them all here. It is sufficient to provide the following summary.

Attorney Magaña practiced immigration law at a law firm in the Milwaukee area. Time and again, Attorney Magana collected flat fees and cost advances from his clients and did not perform the work he committed to do. He would often ignore his clients’ requests for information about their cases. When he did communicate with his clients, he would supply them with false information——including fabricated documents and false case numbers——in order to deceive them into believing that their cases were progressing on schedule, when in fact they were languishing due to Attorney Magaña’s inactivity. Attorney Magaña eventually left his employing law firm, but did not tell his clients of his departure or take any steps to protect their interests upon his departure. He was uncooperative with the OLR’s investigation into his conduct. In April 2014, he pled guilty to a charge of misdemeanor operating while intoxicated. (second offense), and failed to timely report that conviction to the OLR and the clerk of this court.

He defaulted on 74 alleged violations. (Mike Frisch)