‘Light Hero’ attorney ordered to refund clients (UPDATE)

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A suspended Milwaukee bankruptcy attorney who deemed himself “The Light Hero” in advertisements was ordered by a federal judge Tuesday to pay thousands of dollars for defrauding multiple clients in the poorest areas of Milwaukee.

Emory Booker III marketed himself as an attorney who could prevent residents from having We Energies shut their utilities off, according to a lawsuit filed by the state Attorney General’s Office in the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Clients who went to his office, Legacy Legal Group LLC, were told to file their bankruptcy cases as pro se, even though he charged clients hundreds to aid with the claims, according to court documents. The bankruptcy paperwork was prepared by someone in Indiana, and the attorney general’s office said Booker “did not adequately explain to debtors his claim that he was not acting as their attorney” but instead just performing a “legal analysis to confirm the suitability of the debtor’s circumstance for debt relief.”

“Many debtors who employed Booker were under the impression that he was their attorney and would represent them in court throughout the bankruptcy proceeding,” the suit reads. “The contract refers to Booker as ‘attorney’ throughout.”

U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller signed a judgment Wednesday ordering Booker to pay more than $36,000 to refund his clients, as well as more than $5,000 in legal fees.

Booker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Booker’s troubles are far from over, however. He is suspended from practicing law in Wisconsin for failing to keep up with his continuing legal education credits.

The Office of Lawyer Regulation is also asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to bar him from practicing law and to pay restitution to several clients.

Their 47-count complaint was filed in March, and details much of the alleged wrongdoing the attorney performed in bankruptcy proceedings in state and federal court.

The OLR case was referred to a referee. Booker, in a July 30 filing, denied the majority of the OLR’s allegations.

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