Remembering a legal warrior
Jerrold Wanek, an attorney who spoke highly of the conservative style of small community banks and battled in courtrooms with their larger competitors, was remembered today as a fierce advocate for clients that other lawyers might shun.
Wanek, 53, died Wednesday while vacationing with his wife, Carolyn, on the Caribbean island of St. Barts, their favorite spot to “get away from the world.” An official cause of death had not been announced today.
His practice had been dominated by the representation of troubled businesses and their owners following the collapse of the real estate and credit markets in 2007 and 2008. Wanek said in a Jan. 6 Business Record article that he planned to close his practice July 1 and consult with and possibly take an ownership role with homegrown Iowa businesses that were struggling in a tough economy.
“The recession did two things,” Wanek said. “It kept me busy enough that I can afford to retire, and it burned me out. I did 12 years’ worth of work in five years.”
In a 2009 Business Record article, Wanek estimated that he had up to 650 and 700 cases pending in state court, with the majority of those being foreclosures and debt collections involving businesses and commercial real estate. He also said that he had set a personal record for filing bankruptcy cases.
“He was a zealous advocate for the clients he took on when no one else would,” said attorney David Morse, who clerked for Wanek, then partnered with him in a law firm for 14 years.
“He would hunker down and do the research and do the work and argue the cases creatively and find reasons that were compelling and advocate for his clients accordingly and successfully,” Morse said.
As he planned to leave the profession, Wanek told the Business Record last year that he hoped his clients would adopt Morse as their attorney.
Wanek was noted for pressing his clients’ cases to the point of frustration for opposing counsel and, occasionally, judges. When asked about the “Wanek style,” he used a baseball metaphor, telling a Business Record reporter that there was no point in stepping to the plate if you didn’t “swing for the fences.”
“We were able to go at it hammer and tongs and walk out of the courtroom and talk about our kids,” said Tom Burke, an attorney with Whitfield & Eddy PLC who frequently was on the opposite side of a bank issue with Wanek. “You better strap it on when it came time to go into the courtroom, but afterwards it was a very collegial relationship.”
Burke, who recalled spending a considerable amount of time with the Wanek family when both men were young, struggling attorneys, said, “It was a long relationship, and it’s just horrific, the end.”
Jerrold Wanek, an attorney who spoke highly of the conservative style of small community banks and battled in courtrooms with their larger competitors, was remembered today as a fierce advocate for clients that other lawyers might shun.
Wanek, 53, died Wednesday while vacationing with his wife, Carolyn, on the Caribbean island of St. Barts, their favorite spot to “get away from the world.” An official cause of death had not been announced today.
His practice had been dominated by the representation of troubled businesses and their owners following the collapse of the real estate and credit markets in 2007 and 2008. Wanek said in a Jan. 6 Business Record article that he planned to close his practice July 1 and consult with and possibly take an ownership role with homegrown Iowa businesses that were struggling in a tough economy.
“The recession did two things,” Wanek said. “It kept me busy enough that I can afford to retire, and it burned me out. I did 12 years’ worth of work in five years.”
In a 2009 Business Record article, Wanek estimated that he had up to 650 and 700 cases pending in state court, with the majority of those being foreclosures and debt collections involving businesses and commercial real estate. He also said that he had set a personal record for filing bankruptcy cases.
“He was a zealous advocate for the clients he took on when no one else would,” said attorney David Morse, who clerked for Wanek, then partnered with him in a law firm for 14 years.
“He would hunker down and do the research and do the work and argue the cases creatively and find reasons that were compelling and advocate for his clients accordingly and successfully,” Morse said.
As he planned to leave the profession, Wanek told the Business Record last year that he hoped his clients would adopt Morse as their attorney.
Wanek was noted for pressing his clients’ cases to the point of frustration for opposing counsel and, occasionally, judges. When asked about the “Wanek style,” he used a baseball metaphor, telling a Business Record reporter that there was no point in stepping to the plate if you didn’t “swing for the fences.”
“We were able to go at it hammer and tongs and walk out of the courtroom and talk about our kids,” said Tom Burke, an attorney with Whitfield & Eddy PLC who frequently was on the opposite side of a bank issue with Wanek. “You better strap it on when it came time to go into the courtroom, but afterwards it was a very collegial relationship.”
Burke, who recalled spending a considerable amount of time with the Wanek family when both men were young, struggling attorneys, said, “It was a long relationship, and it’s just horrific, the end.”
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