Leonard V. Brady, 83, has been a Wisconsin lawyer since 1953. He's been a court commissioner, law instructor and bank official, and now runs a law practice called Christian Legal Services. The license plate on his Jaguar reads ECCLLAW, for ecclesiastical law.
Heirs of Catherine Pretschold and their attorney think the religious overtones are a sham. They accuse Brady of improperly diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Pretschold estate, money Brady has hinted is invested in church bonds through a company in Trinidad but which he hasn't been able to produce for months, according to court records.
At a sworn deposition this fall, he declined to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment right against possible self-incrimination.
Attorney Mitchell Barrock of Brookfield is convinced Brady used the Pretschold estate as his retirement account and should be prosecuted. "I don't know why he's not in jail right now," said an exasperated Barrock.
Barrock represents Catherine Pretschold's son and daughter: Wayne Pretschold, who runs the family's awning business in Milwaukee, and Linda Logan of Connecticut. They are co-personal representatives of their mother's estate. Catherine Pretschold died in December 2007.
"The courts are supposed to take care of this," Logan said recently. "Everybody looks the other way."
Prosecutors, federal agents and lawyer regulators began an investigation months ago; while the investigation continues, no charges have been filed and Brady remains in good standing with the Wisconsin bar. Neither he nor his attorney returned repeated calls, and a woman at Brady's Brookfield home would not accept a letter from a reporter.
Brady has been replaced as guardian of the Pretschold estate, and new deadlines have been set for him to come up with the about $700,000 in missing funds.
If things aren't resolved by March, there will be a trial at which Barrock can try to collect the missing money, and tens of thousands of dollars in lost interest, investigative costs and attorneys fees from insurance companies that had issued performance bonds for Brady.
Catherine Pretschold
Full Article and Source:
Probate Lawyer in Court Over His Handling of $1.6 Million Estate
Surety (performance) bonds are critical in this treacherous area of law.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's intersting that while Leonard Brady was mishandling this estate, everybody thought he was highly regarded....
ReplyDeleteOne never knows...
I wish we could find out for sure how these things turn out. It sure looks bad for the lawyer.
ReplyDeleteanother bad lawyer. we're getting used to it.
ReplyDeleteanother one i lost count already the perps lawyer wants to keep this in probate sure nice way to keep the details buried guardianship cases are closed in Wisconsin no one can get into those files i think its high time somebody in authority says hey what else is going on and move forward with audit and review too bad this greedy lawyer is up in years less time for him to serve in a state cage lock him up where he belongs
ReplyDeleteI see a photo of a beautiful woman.
ReplyDeleteSome people see $$$$$.
How much longer will the guardianship racket be allowed to operate in secrecy?
This system is not only broken it has been manipulated to the advantage of the players, clearly it is organized crime under color of law, easy money, easy targets, justice is indeed blind.
Just think what the lawyers are making out of this.
ReplyDelete