TOPEKA—Clients of former Topeka attorney Michael Broemmel have been paid a collective $163,650 from the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection, according to a report released today by the Office of the Clerk of Appellate Courts.
Broemmel is among 18 attorneys whose conduct resulted in payments to 53 former clients during the period between July 1, 2000, and December 31, 2001 totaling $211,160. The Fund, which is financed by Kansas lawyers through their annual registration fee, was created by the Kansas Supreme Court in 1993 to reimburse clients for the dishonest conduct of their attorneys. No tax funds are expended.
Payments to former clients of Broemmel accounted for 23 of the claims and a total dollar payment of $163,650. Other attorneys whose conduct resulted in loss payments by the Fund include Felix G. Kancel, Kansas City, Kansas, $600; John W. Cole, Ottawa, $1,246; Michael M. Moran, Overland Park, $500; John B. Gage II, Overland Park, $1,850; James C. Trickey, Overland Park, $460; John F. McGee, Wichita, $650; Robert L. Morse, Olathe, $750; Ronald D. Heck, Topeka, $25,000; Robert R. Arnold, Wichita, $500; George W. Swisher, Oskaloosa, $150; Terri Stroh Tweedly, Overland Park, $7,600; Lynn L. Perkins, Howard, $1,000; Byron J. Moore, Wichita, $750; Jack M.N. Shelton, Topeka, $3,000; Marlin Johanning, Atchison, $534; Carl A. Fleming, Eudora, $420; and Bradly Johnson, Olathe, $2,500.
Kansas operates with a $50,000 cap for any individual claimant and a $200,000 cap for claims against any attorney. Eligible claims must arise from the dishonest conduct of an active member of the bar in the course of a lawyer-client relationship and by reason of that relationship, and must be filed within one year after the claimant knew or should have known of the loss. "Dishonest conduct" includes intentional dishonesty as well as refusal to refund unearned fees.
The Fund does not cover losses resulting from a lawyer's negligence, fee disputes, or cases of legal malpractice. The Fund does not have the authority to discipline lawyers, resolve fee disputes, or determine legal malpractice claims.
The Fund is administered by the Client Protection Fund Commission, which consists of seven members-one judge, four lawyers and two nonlawyers. Current commission members include Greg Musil, chair, Overland Park; Beth Fager, vice chair, Topeka; Kent Cornish, Wichita; Amy S. Lemley, Wichita; Ward Loyd, Garden City; Judge David L. Stutzman, Manhattan; and William R. Sampson, Overland Park.
Currently, there are 9,382 registered active attorneys in Kansas. Since the Supreme Court established the Fund in 1993, there have been 113 claims resulting in payments against 44 attorneys and a total of $641,848 paid out in claims.