For Immediate Release
	CONTACT: Tom Watson State Bar of Wisconsin (608) 250-6180.

State Bar of Wisconsin looks to help Asher clients

November 12, 1999 - The State Bar of Wisconsin is coming to the aid of bankruptcy clients of attorney John Asher. Asher's law practice collapsed after he failed to file numerous bankruptcy claims on behalf of a number of clients.

The State Bar's Client Security Fund is being used to help cover some of those clients' losses. The fund was originally created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1981. Under Supreme Court rules, clients of attorneys licensed and practicing in Wisconsin may be reimbursed by the fund for losses of money or other property caused by their attorneys' unprofessional or unethical conduct.

Waukesha attorney Steven Tikalsky is the chair of the Client Security Fund committee. He says 19 claims have already been handled, with most of them anywhere from $175 to as high as $860. "While these are relatively small claims for us, it is important that we help these people," Tikalsky said. "They hired an attorney to do a job, and that job was not done. We have an obligation to provide the legal services these people expected and deserved," he added.

Tikalsky says there could be as many as 250 people who were left without legal services after Asher closed up shop, so he expects more claims to come in.

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bar Association is also helping out. Attorney John Byrnes of the U.S. Trustees Office has managed Asher's bankruptcy cases and recruited a number of volunteer attorneys from the Milwaukee Bar Association's Bankruptcy Section to handle the cases.

"It's unfortunate that this happened," Tikalsy says, "but the legal profession as a whole is full of some very dedicated attorneys, and we will make sure these clients are not left out in the cold."

For more information, contact Tom Watson at the State Bar of Wisconsin, at (608) 250-6180.

Press Releases