Court of appeals hits attorney with sanctions, ban from state courts

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A state appeals court has slapped a West Allis attorney with sanctions for filing a frivolous appeal and banned her from litigating matters related to her son in the state’s trial and appeals courts.

The sanctions stem from a lawsuit Margaret Bach filed pro se in 2015 in Brown County against health-care providers for her son, Aaron, who has a rare brain tumor that causes seizures and violent behavior.

Bach was Aaron’s guardian for two years until the courts in 2009 appointed a new guardian. Bach has said Aaron was taken from her home in 2012 without her first receiving proper notice. She believes that happened because Milwaukee County did not want to pay for the two caregivers her son needed.

The lawsuit she filed was one of several attempts she made to get him back or at least visit him.

The trial court that took up the case dismissed her claims and ordered her to pay for Aaron’s guardian ad litem fees, which were imposed to sanction Bach for violating a previous court order. She appealed.

The District 3 Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court on Tuesday but also found Bach’s appeal frivolous and sanctioned her, noting they had warned her in two previous cases that the court’s patience was wearing thin from her meritless appeals.

The appeals court instructed the trial court to determine the reasonable costs and attorney fees to be awarded to the defendants.

The appeals court also banned Bach from turning to state trial and appeals courts to file documents related to Aaron’s care, at least until she had paid all those costs.

The court’s decision was issued the same day the Wisconsin Supreme Court publicly reprimanded Bach for her behavior in the cases she had litigated involving Aaron. Follow @erikastrebel