Menard disbarred by Supreme Court
Well-known Milwaukee lawyer Robert Menard, already facing felony charges of stealing or misusing nearly $1 million, was disbarred by the state Supreme Court Friday.
Regulators charged Menard with 30 counts of misconduct saying he misused settlement monies for clients by pocketing the cash or using it to pay business expenses.
Regulators also charged Menard with taking settlement money intended for specific clients to pay different clients. Menard stipulated to the wrongdoing, records show.
In revoking the law license that Menard has held since 1991, the justices compared his case to the 2012 disbarment of Joseph Weigel.
In both cases “monies belonging to one client were routinely used to pay off other clients as well as firm and personal expenses,” the justices wrote. “As in Weigel, in virtually every client matter he handled, Attorney Menard ‘robbed Peter to pay Paul.’”
The regulatory complaint that led to the disbarment is similar to the pending criminal complaint that charges Menard with embezzlement and forgery for running a Ponzi scheme.
“Attorney Robert Menard has, for many years, engaged in an extensive pattern of theft and fraud through his law practice,” prosecutors charged in the criminal complaint. Menard has pleaded not guilty in the criminal case.
Menard is also charged with stealing from Alan Derzon, his long-time law partner. The criminal complaint includes charges that Menard stole Derzon’s retirement account and the law firm they jointly owned.
The pair ran the firm of Derzon & Menard, which billed itself as the “average Joe” and used the fictional “Joe Bob” as its mascot. The firm broke up in 2017 when Derzon sued Menard.
Menard changed the name of the firm to Menard & Menard and ran it until March when the Supreme Court took the unusual action of issuing an emergency order immediately suspending Menard’s license.
The emergency order was issued after James Mohr Jr., a court-appointed referee, recommended that Menard be disbarred. The recommendation came after Mohr oversaw the 2019 hearing on the misconduct charges brought by the Office of Lawyer Regulation.
During the hearing, Mary Hoeft Smith, a now-retired program administrator for the regulatory office testified that it was a “common practice for (Menard) to move client trust funds into his business account and then use those funds to pay ‘very hefty expenses for things like advertising, radio, and billboards.’”
Smith “described this as a practice of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ and using funds belonging to one client in order to pay back a client who was previously the victim of a conversion by Attorney Menard,” Mohr wrote in his report. Smith testified “virtually every client whose funds went into the business account were converted.”
As a disbarred lawyer, Menard is banned from practicing for at least five years. After the revocation period he could apply for reinstatement. In addition to revoking his license, the court ordered he pay nearly $100,000 in restitution to six former clients and $18,191 to cover costs of the proceedings.
Craig Mastantuono, Menard’s criminal defense lawyer, declined to comment.