Former Quarles & Brady lawyer gets probation for stealing from elderly client (WI)

Former Quarles & Brady lawyer gets probation for stealing from elderly client (WI)


March 17, 2012

A former Quarles & Brady lawyer was sentenced Thursday to five years of probation for stealing more than $370,000 over a period of a months from a woman prosecutors say suffered from dementia.

Jeffrey Elverman, 52, must serve seven months in jail as a condition of that probation, but with 72 hours a week work release so he can pay $325,000 restitution from his wages earned at a Chicago tax firm.

Circuit Judge Jeffrey Conen said that while the seriousness of the case deserved prison time, that wouldn’t really be in the best interests of the victim. 94-year-old Dorothy Phinney.

“The forefront of this case is restitution,” Conen said. “We want Ms. Phinney to be made whole — as quickly as possible.”

Elverman did not testify at his December jury trial, but his attorney Daniel Drigot argued that Phinney clearly had the intent to pay Elverman the money in 2003 and 2004. Phinney has no relatives and lives in a Milwaukee nursing home.

Testimony at trial indicated Phinney became Elverman’s client in 2000, when he was a partner at Quarles & Brady, a major downtown law firm. He left the firm in 2004.

Elverman, who now lists a Genoa City address, held Phinney’s power of attorney. The large payments weren’t discovered until 2008, when a judge appointed Supportive Community Services as her legal guardian.

The new guardian sued Elverman seeking return of $600,000. That case is pending.

Starting May 1, Elverman must pay $1,400 a month toward restitution. Next year, the amount rises to $2,000 and in 2014, he will pay $3,000 a month back to Phinney.

“You’re a smart guy,” Conen told Elverman. “I think you know the ramifications if this doesn’t work out.”

They include going to prison for five years if Elverman violates the conditions of his probation.

Attribution:

Former Quarles & Brady lawyer gets probation for stealing from elderly client

Bruce Vielmetti

March 8, 2012

Journal Sentinel

Please read complete article at links below:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/141923693.html




http://www.jdjournal.com/2012/03/09/former-attorney-sentenced-to-5-years-probation-for-stealing-from-elderly-client/

Editor's note: The WI judges prosecute thieves while our IL judges allow the parasites in the Probate Court of Cook County to get away with the same crimes.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster,  ProbateSharks.com

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