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A former partner at Lindquist & Vennum, a 200-attorney firm based in Minneapolis, stole at least $1 million from clients and the firm and will not fight a petition to disbar him, according to a court filing by The Board of Lawyers Professional Responsibility.
Michael Margulies, a real estate and construction lawyer, was forced to resign from Lindquist & Vennum last month, according to the Pioneer Press. The resignation came in the wake of a lawsuit filed by a real estate development company, for which Margulies served as attorney, secretary and treasurer, alleging Margulies and his personal company “made numerous illicit withdrawals” amounting to almost $1.5 million in cash and credit. Margulies used the money to renovate a historic mansion he owned with his wife, the suit alleges.
In a petition to the Supreme Court filed April 8 The Board of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, a state board that recommends discipline for attorneys, said Margulies “engaged in an extensive pattern of misappropriation of client and law firm funds” beginning in 2003 and continuing through this year, the Pioneer Press found.
The petition goes on to state Lindquist & Vennum has begun paying back the money stolen from clients. Eric Cooperstein, Margulies’ attorney, said his client is “really concerned that his personal failures not reflect on the law firm.”
Margulies also served on the St. Paul Planning Commission, under two different mayors, until his resignation last week.
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