Lawyer Discipline
The Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility, an arm
of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, assists the court in discharging
its exclusive constitutional responsibility to supervise the
practice of law in this state and to protect the public from
acts of professional misconduct by attorneys licensed to practice
in Wisconsin. The board is composed of eight lawyers and four
nonlawyer members, and its offices are located at Room 410, 110
E. Main St., Madison, WI 53703, and 342 N. Water St., 3rd Floor,
Milwaukee, WI 53202.
Private Reprimand Summaries
Disciplinary Proceeding Against Robert B. Fennig
On July 1, 1999, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered a two-month
suspension of the law license of Robert B. Fennig, 71, Milwaukee,
effective Aug. 16, 1999.
Fennig became successor trustee of an Illinois testamentary
trust in January 1990, at the request of the attorney for the
trust. The trust was to terminate when the sole beneficiary reached
age 50. The trust assets totaled approximately $938,000. Two
days after his appointment, Fennig loaned $71,000 from the trust
to a new land development company formed by the beneficiary.
The trust held all the company's stock and a note for the
loan. Fennig filed a trust inventory in April 1990, which did
not list the stock or the note as assets. In March 1990 the trust's
attorney began negotiations with a bank for financing for the
company, with the trust as guarantor or entering directly into
a loan agreement. A copy of the trust's inventory was provided
to the bank. Over the next few months, the bank loaned $40,000
to the company.
The company, however, had failed to elect officers, and no
one had authority to enter into agreements on behalf of the company.
In early 1991 Fennig was named vice president of the company,
and the trust's attorney, as secretary/treasurer, signed
a corporate resolution authorizing the company to borrow and
pledge collateral to the bank. The bank then loaned the company
an additional $12,000. After the note went into default, Fennig
and the trust's attorney signed a guaranty for the company's
indebtedness to the bank. Thereafter, Fennig signed a $45,000
note secured by the trust's guaranty to obtain a loan from
the bank that consolidated the prior loans and provided $20,000
of new money. Subsequently, the bank made additional loans to
the company, and the company thereafter defaulted on the loans.
In February 1992 Fennig met with bank representatives regarding
repayment of the loans and the trust's guaranty. In response
to repeated contacts from the bank, on two occasions Fennig promised
payment by specific dates, which passed without any payment.
Fennig also sent the bank documents showing the imminent sale
of the trust's real estate, stating sufficient funds would
be generated to satisfy the company's loan obligations.
The bank continued to press for payment to the end of 1992. The
beneficiary turned 50, and Fennig terminated the trust, repaying
some debts but not the bank's loans. Fennig transferred
the remaining assets to the beneficiary but did not retain assets
to satisfy the guaranty, despite his promises to the bank. He
did not inform the probate court of the trust's guaranty,
the notes, the borrowing resolutions, or his promises to the
bank.
The bank filed a foreclosure action against the company, the
trust, and Fennig, and a judgment was entered against the defendants
for $93,000. When the bank learned that the trust had been terminated,
it filed an action against the trust and Fennig in Illinois.
Following trial, Fennig was found to have committed fraud against
the bank, and judgment was entered against him for $103,749,
which Fennig later settled for $97,000 of his own funds.
It was found that Fennig had engaged in conduct involving
dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, in violation
of SCR
20:8.4(c). The court took into consideration that Fennig
was over age 70 and had practiced for 40 years with no prior
discipline, had an impeccable personal record, and had personally
paid the bank without contribution. Fennig also was ordered to
pay the costs of the proceedings.
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