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Attorney Walter W. Stern, III, (Stern) is a
Wisconsin-licensed attorney, admitted to the
practice of law on May 20, 1974.
In 2019, Stern filed a complaint in the
United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Wisconsin on behalf of a client
(Client) against Client’s former employer
(Employer). Stern attached to the Complaint
an unsealed confidential agreement that, by
its terms, was to remain confidential. Stern
did not file a motion to seal the
confidential agreement which made it
available for public review.
Approximately 12 days after Stern had filed
the Complaint, Stern and counsel for Employer
filed a joint stipulation to seal the
confidential agreement. The next day, the
court entered the order sealing the
confidential agreement. In the approximately
two weeks that the confidential agreement
remained unsealed, members of the public
accessed the agreement.
Counsel for Employer filed a motion for
sanctions against Stern for filing the
unsealed confidential agreement as an exhibit
to the Complaint. Employer sought its
attorneys’ fees related to obtaining the
order to seal the exhibit and related to
preparing and filing the motion for
sanctions.
The court entered an order finding that
Stern’s conduct in filing the unsealed
confidential agreement as an exhibit to the
Complaint was unjustifiable based on the
unambiguous confidentiality clause and that
it was done in bad faith. The judge ordered
Stern to pay $2,256 in sanctions and $1,500
for Employer’s counsel’s attorneys’ fees for
preparing and filing the motion for
sanctions. Stern timely paid $3,756 to
Employer’s counsel.
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By filing a confidential agreement as an
unsealed exhibit to a complaint filed in the
United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Wisconsin, Stern violated SCR
20:1.31.
Stern has prior discipline. Stern received
private reprimands in 1988 for communicating
on the subject of the representation with a
party he knew to be represented by a lawyer
without the consent of that lawyer; 1993 for
failing to pay a third-party lien from
settlement proceeds after receiving notice of
the lien; and 2008 for committing criminal
acts that reflected adversely on his honesty,
trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer. In
1992 Stern was publicly reprimanded. Public
Reprimand of Walter W. Stern, III, 1992-11.
In 2013, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin
suspended Stern’s license to practice law for
two years. Disciplinary Proceedings Against
Stern, 2013 WI 46. In 2021, the Supreme
Court suspended Stern’s license for 60 days.
Disciplinary Proceedings Against Stern,
2021 WI 84.
1 SCR 20:1.3 provides: “A lawyer shall act
with reasonable diligence and promptness in
representing a client.”
In accordance with SCR 22.09(3), Attorney
Walter W. Stern, III, is hereby publicly
reprimanded.
Dated this 23rd day of October, 2022.
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