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William Norine is a Wisconsin attorney whose
State Bar identification number is 1020681.
Norine formerly practiced in Burnett County,
Wisconsin. Norine was first licensed to
practice law in Wisconsin on December 1,
1992.
Norine, while serving as the District
Attorney for Burnett County, communicated
via Facebook to multiple women who had
pending criminal cases in Burnett County. In
these communications, Norine sought lunch,
dinner or drink dates, used personal
endearments and made improper inducements.
In one matter, Norine offered to buy dinner
and “compare notes” with a woman who had a
pending Burnett County criminal case as well
as a pending Child in Need of Protection or
Services (CHIPS) case. The woman claimed
she was desperate to get her children back
and was in a vulnerable position.
In another matter, Norine became Facebook
friends with a woman who had a pending
Burnett County criminal case. Norine told
the woman that she was a “wonderful
beautiful person” who inspired him. He
offered to pay her phone bill if she “had
time to meet.” Norine repeatedly asked her
out on dates. At one point, the woman, who
was represented by counsel, missed a court
date and Norine communicated with her
through Facebook, even offering to pick her
up after a bench warrant was issued and buy
her lunch after the matter was resolved.
In another matter, Norine had lunch with one
woman whom his office was prosecuting,
although at the time he met with the woman
she purportedly had no pending charges. In
Facebook messages, he called the woman
“Babe” and at one point paid for 3 Gigabytes
of data on her cell phone. When she
informed Norine that she was worried about a
new pending charge and an anticipated
sentence of probation, Norine advised her
not to worry as “We usually take a non
criminal ordinance plea on those No
probation.” Norine also told her in a
message that she was “lovely.” In other
messages, the woman spoke of potential
criminal matters and asked Norine for
advice.
In some of the cases, Norine was not
personally assigned to the prosecutions as
the cases were being handled by an assistant
district attorney. Nonetheless, as the
Burnett County District Attorney, Norine was
responsible for the subject prosecutions.
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In his capacity as Burnett County District
Attorney, by seeking dinner, lunch or drink
dates with women facing criminal charges in
Burnett County, coupled with the use of
personal endearments such as “Babe” or
calling the women “lovely” or “beautiful” or
otherwise offering or paying personal
expenses and communicating legal advice,
Norine, in each instance, violated SCR
20:1.7(a)(2), which provides, “Except as
provided in par. (b), a lawyer shall not
represent a client if the representation
involves a concurrent conflict of interest.
A concurrent conflict of interest exists if:
. . . (2) there is a significant risk that
the representation of one or more clients
will be materially limited by . . . a
personal interest of the lawyer.”
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In his capacity as Burnett County District
Attorney, by failing to withdraw from criminal
prosecutions in which had a conflict of
interest stemming from his personal interest
in the defendants, Norine, in each instance,
violated SCR 20:1.16(a), which provides, in
relevant part, “Except as stated in par. (c),
a lawyer shall not represent a client or,
where representation has commenced, shall
withdraw from the representation of a client
if: (1) the representation will result in
violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct
or other law . . . .”
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In his capacity as Burnett County District
Attorney, by seeking dinner, lunch or drink
dates with women facing criminal charges in
Burnett County, coupled with the use of
personal endearments such as “Babe” or
calling the women “lovely” or “beautiful” or
otherwise offering or paying personal
expenses and communicating legal advice,
Norine, in each instance, violated SCR
20:8.4(i), which provides, “It is
professional misconduct for a lawyer to: . .
. (i) harass a person on the basis of sex .
. . .”
Norine has no prior discipline.
In accordance with SCR 22.09, Attorney
William Norine of Grantsburg, Wisconsin is
hereby publicly reprimanded.
Dated this 15th day of February, 2019.
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