Inside the
Bar
Wisconsin Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection
disburses $275K-plus for lawyer theft
The Wisconsin Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection Committee approved
reimbursements to 67 victims of lawyer theft at its Aug. 16 meeting.
The committee approved reimbursements totaling $279,421 to 67 victims
of lawyer theft. Claims were approved for clients of Margaret Asterlin
(one claim for $1,350), the late Brian Blacher (one claim for $3,500),
Joan M. Boyd (one claim for $5,450), Thomas Fadner II (seven claims for
$19,226), Daniel Grade (one claim for $14,000), David Ham (two claims
for $7,860), Jeffrey Knickmeier (one claim for $20,444), Charles Koehn
(49 claims for $127, 591), Robert Emmett Mahoney (one claim for $4,000),
Peter S. Nelton (one claim for $500), Gerald Proost (one claim for
$75,000), and Allen E. Schatz (one claim for $500).
"The work this committee does speaks volumes for the overwhelming
majority of honest attorneys," says Committee Chair David Reddy. "We can
restore confidence in the legal profession that was lost at the hands of
dishonest attorneys."
The committee denied 11 claims and deferred two claims until its Oct.
5 meeting.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court established the fund, formerly named the
Clients' Security Fund, in 1981 to reimburse people who lost money
through dishonest acts of Wisconsin attorneys, including unearned
retainer, theft from estate, misappropriation of funds, conversion of
trust account funds, and theft by investment. All claims for
reimbursement and all proceedings of the committee are subject to SCR
12.04-11. All Wisconsin-licensed attorneys, except those classified as
inactive, subsidize the fund through an annual assessment. Reimbursement
decisions are made at the discretion of the committee.
For more information about the Wisconsin Lawyers' Fund for Client
Protection, visit www.wisbar.org/ClientProtection.
Top of page
Inside the
Bar
