TMCnet News

Disbarred lawyer Eisenberg argues own case at Supreme Court
[November 08, 2012]

Disbarred lawyer Eisenberg argues own case at Supreme Court


Nov 08, 2012 (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- You may recall that Milwaukee lawyer Alan Eisenberg was disbarred by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2010 after a long history of ethical run-ins with the state bar.



So what was he doing making oral arguments to the court on Tuesday He was taking perhaps his last public shot at a system he accused of literally trying to kill him by seeking further sanctions on top of the professional death sentence already imposed.

"What is the purpose of coming after me right after I'm disbarred " Eisenberg said. "Because it's one way of traumatizing me and pushing me into an early grave.


"When you know someone's suicidal, why would you keep going after him unless you want him to die " he said. "Tell me to die and I'll do it. Order a lobotomy. I surrender." Lawyers whose licenses are revoked can seek reinstatement after five years. But a referee who heard a grievance about Eisenberg's conduct in a suit over a dog's euthanasia and fee splitting in another case recommended that another two years be added to that waiting period -- and that Eisenberg pay nearly $30,000 in costs.

Tuesday's court appearance was pure Eisenberg. In just the first 12 minutes of his argument, he detailed a litany of physical, financial and emotional ills -- Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson invited him to present his argument from a chair after he complained of sciatica pain in his right leg while standing -- and compared himself to the subject of the case at issue.

"It appears today, I am the dog," he said.

His professional banishment came for a 2001 lawsuit in which the court found Eisenberg had filed a lawsuit in bad faith to intimidate, harass and maliciously injure his client's estranged wife and to gain leverage in the couple's divorce.

At one point Tuesday, Eisenberg actually barked at the court.

Justice David Prosser asked Eisenberg, 71, the obvious question: If he truly has no desire to ever practice law again, and doesn't believe he could win reinstatement even if he did, why fight the latest case so vigorously Eisenberg said lawyer regulators would accept a surrender of his license only if he admitted to wrongdoing in nine other cases, something he called a Catch-22.

Justice Ann Walsh Bradley asked why the charges weren't folded into the case that resulted in Eisenberg's revocation and whether the current matter might not be seen as a "bit of overkill." Paul Schwarzenbart, a Madison lawyer who prosecuted the case for the Office of Lawyer Regulation, defended the office's prosecutorial discretion.

In rebuttal, Eisenberg scoffed at Schwarzenbart's explanation that he was only hired by the Office of Lawyer Regulation to bring the current case.

"Just following orders That's what Hitler's subordinates said. I don't think that's ethical," Eisenberg said.

It could be months before the court rules.

On the web To view a video of Alan Eisenberg's appearance before the state Supreme Court, go to http://bit.ly/RXcQbP.

___ (c)2012 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Visit the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel at www.jsonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]