Abrasive, flamboyant, combative: Legendary Milwaukee character Alan Eisenberg has died

Alan Eisenberg, a colorful and often controversial Milwaukee figure who famously lost his law license after years of battles with ethics regulators, has died. He was 77.

Eisenberg, who was also a real estate broker, animal rights advocate, radio host, editor of a Hispanic newspaper, baseball umpire, and even gubernatorial candidate, had been in ill health for years. He died at his home in Whitefish Bay on Friday, according to Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office records.

He was best known — actually legendary — for an exceedingly abrasive personality. He spent much of his career as an anecdote waiting to happen; stories about his flamboyance and combativeness circulated in legal, political and journalism circles for decades.

Several lawyers contacted for reactions to his passing declined, saying they'd rather not speak ill of the dead.

Real estate associate Linda Kopacka said Eisenberg wanted no public discussion when he died.

"Alan's wishes were for no service and no announcements, and as I have been entrusted by him to carry out his wishes, I will not be able to make any comments," she said in an email.

Eisenberg perceived himself as courageously fighting for those in need. And even his critics conceded — usually privately — that he was a passionate, effective advocate for many underdog and marginalized clients.

In his most recent courtroom appearance — as the plaintiff in a minor auto collision two years ago — Eisenberg testified about his precarious health and the activities he's had to forgo because of it, from his front row seats at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater to umpiring baseball games and playing table tennis.

Much of the testimony also focused on the fact that Eisenberg had been suffering the described pains, ailments and restrictions for years before the accident. When he brought them up during a 2012 oral argument at the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the chief justice invited him to finish his argument from a chair.

Known for his trademark red fedora, overbearing personality and aggressive style of legal representation, he spent most of his career trying to stay out of the shadow of perhaps his most ignominious moment.

As a young lawyer in 1968,  Eisenberg and his father blackmailed a Milwaukee judge — whom they knew had an affair with a woman lawyer — into publicly naming them to a commission to oversee the administration of the judge's court. The judge committed suicide a short time later.

That he was only suspended from practice for a year by the Wisconsin Supreme Court for his role in the matter outraged many other lawyers. 

In between what even his critics admitted was effective representation for a variety of clients over the years, Eisenberg had several other run-ins with the Office of Lawyer Regulation, earning suspensions in 1988 and 2004 and a public reprimand in 1996.

The 1988 disciplinary action found him guilty of an "offensive personality."

Finally, in 2010 he was disbarred. His attorney argued that Eisenberg was being punished for his aggressive style. But lawyer regulators took the position that, while Eisenberg prided himself on a rude and abrasive litigation style, he deserved discipline not for being an aggressive lawyer, but for being an abusive one.

In 2013 the Supreme Court made Eisenberg wait two extra years beyond the standard five before he could seek reinstatement. He never did get his law license back.

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.