The Most Egregious Cases

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has revoked the license of an attorney for serious financial misconduct committed against the assrts of a client who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

The court declined to run the sanction concurrently with a previously-imposed nine month suspension:

Revocation of an attorney’s license to practice law is the most severe sanction this court can impose.  It is reserved for the most egregious cases.  We agree that in this case, no sanction short of revocation would be sufficient to protect the public, achieve deterrence, and impress upon Attorney Elverman the seriousness of his misconduct…

We agree with the referee’s recommendation that the revocation of Attorney Elverman’s license not be made retroactive.  Although Attorney Elverman’s actual theft of D.P.’s money may have ended in 2004, it appears that he continued to take actions to the detriment of her estate past the time that his license to practice law was suspended in 2008.  In addition, both Attorney Elverman and the OLR disregard the fact that in July of 2011 Attorney Elverman was convicted of disorderly conduct as the result of a domestic violence incident that occurred in May 2011.  Attorney Elverman’s failure to timely report that conviction to this court, and his failure to cooperate with the OLR’s investigation into that incident, is yet another indication of Attorney Elverman’s true character…The misconduct at issue in this case is extremely serious.  Attorney Elverman took advantage of an elderly woman who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and stole a large amount of money from her.  Accordingly, we decline the parties’ request to make revocation of his license retroactive.

This earlier report is from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. (Mike Frisch)