Leonard Loeb

I have had the honor and privilege of being associated with Leonard for over 18 years, the last 12 as his partner

Leonard Loeb passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly, on March 9, 2003. In addition to his wife, Karen, four children (two of them lawyers) and three grandchildren, he left behind a rich legacy in the legal profession.

Leonard’s resume ran on many pages. He was one of very few lawyers to be both chair of the ABA Family Law Section and President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. He considered his term as President of the State Bar of Wisconsin as the crowning achievement of his career.

One of Leonard’s proudest accomplishments was serving as the first Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. In his first “Welcome” column, in 1985, Leonard wrote that the goal was not just to add another publication, but a useful one which would include “original material on a given theme.” The Journal has lived up to Leonard’s high standards. Yet, it was in the practice of divorce law in which he made his greatest mark. While being an accomplished trial lawyer, he advocated mediation and collaborative divorce years before they became household words. He frequently said that “the best lawyers keep their clients out of court”.

Leonard was famous for many “sayings” of great wisdom. Among the more famous was “The goal of a family law attorney is to achieve the best financial settlement for the client without creating or adding to the degree of animosity which would prevent the parties from dancing together at their children’s weddings.” Leonard put children above everything else. He frequently told clients that their real wealth was not what they had in the bank, but their family and especially their children.

Leonard loved to give advice and had a story to illustrate every point. In Souls on Fire, Elie Wiesel told the following parable to illustrate why people tell stories:

When the founder of Hasidic Judaism, the great Rabbi Israel Shem Tov, saw misfortune threatening the Jews, it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and the misfortune averted. Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Maggid of Mezritch, had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: “Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayer,” and again the miracle would be accomplished. Still later, Rabbi Moshe-leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say, “I do not know how to light the fire. I do not know the prayer, but I know the place, and this must be sufficient.” It was sufficient, and the miracle was accomplished. Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhin to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: “I am unable to light the fire, and I do not know the prayer, and I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story, and this must be sufficient.” And it was sufficient. For God made man because He loves stories.

God made Leonard Loeb because he loves stories.