Michael E. Marsh Cashed My Retainer Check AFTER He Was Suspended!!

OK so we all have our problems and faults, no news there. One problem that occupies much of my time and energy is that I am getting divorced. My soon-to-be-ex-wife hired an attorney who duly sent me a sheaf of legal papers. At this point I needed a lawyer, we've all heard that old saw about the guy representing himself having a fool for an attorney and an ass for a client. I unfortunately interviewed and hired one Michael E. Marsh, attorney of 20 years experience. The sign in front of his office caught my eye, it seemed businesslike and sensible. He seemed to google OK, I found him here for instance and also here. Pro Bono recognition from the Bar Association? Sounds like a good guy. He interviewed OK too, we discussed aspects of my case and I was particularly taken by his assertion that he knew and had a good working relationship with my soon-to-be-ex-wifes lawyer . I signed a retainer agreement with him on May 1 2004, and brought him a check for $3500 on May 4. Much to my later dismay, Michael E. Marsh was suspended from practicing law in Illinois effective the very same day I gave him the check!!! He must have known this was pending. He cashed the retainer check in person at my bank the next day when he certainly knew he couldn't legally represent me. Generally, legitimate legal transactions involving large sums of money don't have a convert it to cash in my hot little hands step. I recieved a letter from his office dated May 14 saying that by law he could not represent me any more and I could come pick up my legal files from his office, no mention of my rather substantial retainer. Unfortunately for him, he let his web site registration lapse at some point and I grabbed it when I got his letter. My terms are simple and fair. Give me back my money, and I will give back this site to do with as he wishes. Otherwise, this site will remain a shrine to the perfidity of one Michael E. Marsh, former attorney. I found his inactive site by following links from legal referral pages. This site documents and truthfully alleges behavior that should be criminal if it is not. He may sue me for ... what? libel? defamation? The truth is supposedly a solid defense against that. I am no lawyer, but unfortunately, neither is my lawyer..... That old saw mentioned above has an addendum: the person who hires Michael E Marsh to represent him has a fool for a client and the worst kind of dishonest former lawyer for a lawyer.

Is there a moral to the story? I suppose one should add "are you about to be disbarred, and if so for what?" to your list of interview questions. Followed by "No, Really. Are you about to be disbarred?" Would I recommend this guy to my friends, assuming he gets un-suspended? Would you? Update: I now know how to answer the above question thanks to some helpful email. If I had checked the lawyer search database at IARDC, I would at least have found out that he had been censured twice, once for failing to pay his 339 parking tickets and once for failure to return unearned portion of retainer to 2 different clients. Also I would have learned that there were current disciplinary hearings pending against him. My Bad. Check this out before you engage a lawyer Update 2: This is what he was suspended for, and he knew it was coming since January 9 2004. He seems to be well aquainted with clients taking him to small claims court to get thier retainers back. See you there Michael! Update 3: Updated updates 1 and 2 to make factual corrections: I originally thought both censures were for mishandling clients funds. I also asserted in update 2 that he is scum which is not factually correct by any literal definition. I don't know a precise single word definition for a suspended lawyer with a documented history of deception, asset conversion, and uncooperativeness to his own clients and the ARDC who owes me my retainer back but when I find it, I will share. In german it would probably be something like suspendedlawyermitdocumentedhischtoryofdeception undassetenconversionunduncooperativenessmitownclients undderARDCwhoowesmemyretainerbackenheyhansletsgogetunbeeryah but thats just a guess, my german is as bad as my latin. Update 4: Michael has made the local paper. Epilogue: Update 4 was written in 2004, I write this in early 2008. A few things have happened in the meantime: I hired a new lawyer and was able to achieve a decent, civilized divorce. It was painful, but in the end I think it worked out for the best. Contact me if you live in Illinois and want a reference to the lawyer I used. I applied for restitution from an IARDC insurance fund and got most of my money back. I complained to the States Attorney about Mr. Marsh's behavior. More than one person who was also victimized by Mr. Marsh contacted me through this site, and I urged them to complain to the States Attorney too. Apparently some of them did because: In early January 2008 Mr. Marsh pleaded (or pled? there seems to be no consensus on this verb tense. In either case, Marsh is a plodder!) guilty to 5 counts of misdemeanor theft, to wit: taking and keeping retainers from 5 people after he was already suspended. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, 24 months of probation, and full restitution, meaning he has to repay the IARDC insurance fund the portions they already covered, and also repay poor schmoes like me the parts they did not. Newspaper articles with even more juicy details are here and here . I was subpoenaed and eager to testify against him when he pled, the dirty rotten plodiatrist! He avoided felony charges by doing this. Lessons Learned: Check the lawyer search database at IARDC before you engage a lawyer in Illinois! You'll be surprised some times. This service is priceless and every state should have something like this. There are dishonest lawyers, there are honest ones too. No really. I know at least two whom I consider to be decent human beings. If you're a crooked lawyer and you go around blatantly cheating people, Don't Let Your Web Site Registration Lapse File this last one under 'DUH' but here's a case where someone who led the life of a smart and slippery shyster missed it, putting plaid to his sense of impunity. Now he's going through life a registered pleadophile, or plederast, or something. I would use the correct term if I knew it, but as I mentioned, I am not a lawyer.....