William B Fortner

I have made a career out of representing individuals and small businesses.    My office is located in a courtyard just off the courthouse square in downtown Prescott, Arizona.  I have been a lawyer in Prescott since 1977.  My passions include the practice of law and the defense of the Constitutions of our democratic republic and the State of Arizona.  I attempt to read every opinion published by the United States Supreme Court, the Arizona State Supreme Court, and the Arizona Courts of Appeal.

I try to only represent reasonable and honest people.  The client must be completely truthful with me.  I must take care to present the truth to the tribunal.  My pledge to you is to focus on your case and get the best possible result in the most economical manner. and expeditious manner. While compromise is often the best case there are some people that will not negotiate in good faith.  When all else fails I am an experienced litigator and not at all afraid to take a case to trial.

I charge one hundred dollars for a consultation which is scheduled for fifty minutes.  Prior to the consultation we sign an agreement establishing our attorney/client relationship and the payment of the consultation fee. There are numerous potential benefits to you from meeting with me.  I cannot remember the last time I met with someone who did not finish our meeting satisfied it was worthwhile.  If you schedule an appointment with me you can expect my complete attention with no distractions.  I expect to treat you with courtesy and respect. 

I have two formal state bar actions on my record.   I have been a member of the Arizona State Bar for thirty three years. A comment about both of them seems appropriate.  The first action took place in 1983.  I made a very definite statement about the illegal United States government funding of the war against the legitimate government of the country of Nicaragua.  My point was that hiring mercenaries to adapt the guerrilla tactics of the Viet Cong to go out into the countryside to destabilize the government by killing teachers, nurses, and doctors was not only illegal pursuant to our international treaty obligations but was first degree murder according to the criminal codes of the District of Columbia. and likely the Commonwealth of Virginia.  The political symbol I chose to use to make this point was an unloaded and never fired 357 magnum handgun.  The point I was trying to make is that if officials of the United States government were in fact providing cash to mercenaries to kill innocent civilians then they needed to be indicted for their crimes.  I had no problem turning over the politically symbolic pistol to Captain Frank Weymuth, who apologized, of the Yavapai County Sheriff's  Department when I approached the Courthouse on official business but I did have a problem when his superiors would not return it after I had finished with my business there.  I was arrested for disturbing the peace at the Sheriff's office for demanding the return of my property.  Things went down hill from there and the State Bar got involved.  The 1983 suspension was completely appropriate as the distractions presented left me unable to pursue the practice of law.  It is important to note that as in my other  State Bar action there was no finding that any client had been harmed in any way and no restitution was ordered.   During the period of my suspension I supported myself by my backup trade as a machinest and by doing legal research and writing.

The second action against me was the censure in 2003. Censure is the least serious formal sanction that can be imposed.  I had office management issues,   An example was my practice of having all filing fees run through my office account when they should have gone through  my trust account.  All filing fees were properly accounted for and none were missing.  I agreed that this issue was sanctionable and indicative of other office management issues as well.  I readily agreed  that probation and assistance with the Law Office Management Assistance Program  would be appropriate.  As in the first action against me there was no finding that any client had been harmed in any way and no restitution was ordered.

I am constantly striving to be the lawyer I was born to be and have not had any recent issues with the Arizona State Bar Association.