Man goes from client to defendant in lengthy courtroom drama [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

May 20--What started as a routine legal matter has turned into a nightmarish and costly courthouse roller coaster for Mark Halbman, a Menomonee Falls man who is still in court 13 years after injuring his neck in a traffic accident.

Halbman, 53, has gone from being a client of attorney Mitchell Barrock -- who initially won an impressive six-figure jury award for his client -- to becoming a defendant in an action brought against him by his own lawyer.

Halbman's joy at winning a $182,000 verdict for his neck injuries was short-lived. Just three months after the verdict was returned in late 2004, it was thrown out largely because of courtroom errors by Barrock, who made comments that a Milwaukee County judge called "absolutely improper and blatantly prejudicial." The appellate court in 2008 rejected Barrock's plea to reinstate the verdict.

Then, despite winning a second jury award -- this time for about $30,000 from Farmers Insurance Group -- Halbman has been unable to collect even a nickel because Barrock told Halbman he owed him more than $30,000 in fees and expenses for the work done at the two trials and appeal.

"I couldn't believe it," said Halbman, who owns Halbman Landscape Supply. "I stormed out of his office."

Barrock, a third-generation Brookfield attorney, is also in the center of an unrelated legal fight over why he collected nearly $260,000 from the estate of a south side woman even though five beneficiaries -- including the Capuchin friars -- are owed more than $180,000 by the estate.

In Halbman's case, Barrock sued his ex-client after a New Berlin chiropractor who had served as an expert in Halbman's personal injury case sued Barrock for $7,000 in back fees. Barrock said Halbman should be liable for the debt -- an argument that was rejected by a Waukesha County judge in 2011.

Now, Halbman is suing Barrock for malpractice.

"Ever since this whole thing started it's been money, money, money," Halbman said. "It seems like the only people getting money are the attorneys. And now I'm paying this new attorney for the malpractice case."

Barrock says the latest matter is simply a dispute between a lawyer and client. "It's a difference of opinion, and everybody is entitled to an opinion," Barrock said. "The recovery (from Farmers Insurance) was less than the total of fees and costs."

Barrock has been involved in several disputes over fees or disciplinary matters during his 25-year legal career. Among them:

--A Wauwatosa lawyer is asking that Barrock be found in contempt for not following a Milwaukee County judge's order that five beneficiaries in a probate case be paid before Barrock receives his fees. Court records show that Barrock was paid nearly $260,000 by the estate of south side resident Arlene Bowsher for his work as the lawyer for the estate's personal representative. The five beneficiaries -- the Capuchin friars, a local food pantry, a retired nun and two friends of Bowsher's -- are owed more than $180,000, said Robert Rondini, the estate's new personal representative, who filed the contempt motion. A hearing is set for Thursday on that motion.

Barrock says his fees were justified because he put in 400 to 500 hours on the case, an estimate that works out to $520 to $650 per hour.

--In 2010 Barrock was the whistleblower in a case involving now-disbarred attorney Leonard Brady, who was the guardian of a large estate. Barrock, who represented the executors, said the estate was missing more than $700,000 and that Brady should be jailed. Brady was in fact later jailed for 35 days after being held in contempt for failing to turn over about $187,000 that was missing from a different estate he oversaw. The FBI is investigating the matter.

--Barrock has been disciplined by the Supreme Court three times for violating attorney ethics rules. He was suspended in 2007 for 60 days after the court found he had made false statements in court filings and to investigators during a dispute with another law firm over how to split fees generated by a settlement for a client who had been represented by both firms.

--In December 2011, the court rejected a call by regulators that Barrock be suspended for 120 days. Instead, the court ordered that he be privately reprimanded and pay $14,000 in costs. Barrock was disciplined for advising a client to fill out a form saying that her uncle died without leaving a will, even though Barrock and the client knew there was a will. Barrock, however, questioned the validity of the will, which left the man's estate valued at more than $1.5 million to three churches, according to court records and a video of a Supreme Court hearing.

Barrock was also privately reprimanded by the court in 1992. Details of that case are confidential because Barrock agreed to the discipline in confidential negotiations with regulators.

Barrock says his disciplinary record should have no bearing on the disputes involving Bowsher's will or Halbman.

"I've represented thousands of clients successfully without one lick of problems," Barrock said. He acknowledged there were "certain things that I did that the court found were not appropriate, but I did what I had to do and I have successfully overcome that and I still have represented thousands of people."

Halbman said he has known Barrock since the mid-1990s, having worked for him as a landscaper at his Brookfield home and at the lawyer's office building in Brookfield. Halbman is also suing Barrock for $25,360 for fees he claims he is owed for landscaping and snowplowing services from 2000 to 2009. Barrock responded with a counterclaim charging that Halbman's suit is harassment and arguing that he does not owe the money.

Accident in Minocqua

Until the accident case, Halbman said he was happy with Barrock's legal work, including his successful defense of Halbman after he was charged with drunken driving in 1999. Barrock took the case to trial and won an acquittal for Halbman.

So, after a three-vehicle accident in 2000 when he tore two muscles in his neck -- an injury that Halbman says still bothers him today -- Halbman again retained Barrock for help.

The accident occurred in Minocqua when Halbman and his wife were in their truck waiting to turn into traffic. Two cars collided on Highway 51 and one of the vehicles hit the truck, damaging the vehicle and injuring Halbman's neck.

After the 2004 trial, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Francis Wasielewski chastised Barrock for making comments the judge said could have improperly influenced the jury. As a result, Wasielewski declared a mistrial.

The problems started when Halbman testified that Farmers Insurance, which was a defendant in the case, had already made payments for the damage to his car. Payments of claims are not supposed to be used as evidence in lawsuits.

After the judge admonished Barrock to "be careful," the lawyer effectively piled on by reminding the jury that Farmers had paid to repair the truck.

"That is making it worse," the judge said. "Now he has nailed it down. If it wasn't clear before, it sure is now."

In addition, the judge said, juries are instructed to award damages in the same manner whether insurance money or personal funds will be used to pay an award -- an instruction that was diluted by Barrock's summation comments.

"We all know insurance companies are some of the richest companies in the world," the judge quoted Barrock as saying. " . . . The money comes in, but they never want to give it out."

In declaring a mistrial after the trial ended -- an action judges are loath to do -- Wasielewski said he had little choice, especially considering the size of the verdict.

"That is a blatant appeal to prejudice," Wasielewski said. "I think it may go some (way) to explain the size of the verdict here, $182,000 for a neck strain."

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