Reimbursements to victims of lawyer theft bring fiscal year total to nearly half a million dollars

Reimbursements to victims of lawyer theft bring fiscal year total to nearly half a million dollars


Claims were approved for clients of:



Ernesto Chavez, Madison (one claim for unearned advanced fees, $1,500)



Khaja M. Din, Madison (one claim for unearned advanced fees, $6,000



William J. Grogan, Appleton (one claim for unearned advance fee, $500)



Mark R. Kramer, Delafield (one claim for misappropriation of funds, $290)



William R. Lamb, Menomonie (one claim for unearned advanced fees, $1,000)



Christopher A. Mutschler, Fond du Lac (six claims for unearned advanced fees totaling $26,500)

March 21, 2012 – At its final meeting of fiscal year 2012, the Wisconsin Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection Committee approved $35,790 in reimbursements to 11 victims of lawyer theft. The committee considered 26 claims, denied 12 claims, and deferred three to its Nov. 9 meeting. The dollar amount sought for the deferred claims totals $9,875.



“It has been an honor to serve as chair of the committee,” said Lindsey Draper, who steps down as chair. ”Working with the committee of volunteers whose interest is in making sure that clients who have put their trust in members of our profession are made whole when the trust is violated has been extremely fulfilling. And I can’t say enough about how much the work of the committee is facilitated by the efforts of State Bar staff liaison Kris Wenzel.”



The Wisconsin Supreme Court established the fund in 1981 to reimburse people who lost money through dishonest acts of Wisconsin attorneys. Reimbursement decisions are made at the discretion of the committee, which meets three times a year.



In this fiscal year (July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012), the fund approved $463,421 to 31 victims of 16 lawyers. Since its inception in 1981, the fund has approved $5.1 million involving 710 claims and 160 attorneys.



For more information about the fund, contact Kris Wenzel or call (800) 444-9404, ext. 6185, or (608) 250-6185.

Please read complete article at link below:


http://www.wisbar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=InsideTrack&Template=/CustomSource/InsideTrack/contentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=109820

Editor's note:  This Shark cannot imagine what the "lawyer theft" in the Estate of Alice Gore would be. The theft must exceed the entire State of Wi payment!


Editor's note: Alice R. Gore Estate value about 1 million dollars: Alice R. Gore, deceased, a disabled 99 year old ward of the Probate Court of Cook County, Judge Kawamoto’s courtroom was hours away from ending up in the Cook County Morgue. Alice's estate was depleted by probate court parasites and there were reportedly no funds to bury her. Her loving family paid for the burial expenses so that Alice would not have to suffer the indignity of being stacked like an Auschwitz inmate in the Cook County morgue. The judge allowed an easily manipulated mentally disabled granddaughter to be appointed as Alice’s guardian and yet no sanctions were instituted against the judge or court officers for this blatant infraction of the law.

Strangely, 16 of Alice’s annuity checks, two of which show forged endorsements, disappeared. Alice’s daughter has a copy of a check with her signature possibly forged. The daughter’s attorney has been trying to obtain copies of the 16 other annuity checks for two years without success. The Probate Court of Cook of Cook County refuses to investigate these blatant infractions of the law. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com

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