2022 LEO Banquet Keynote - T.R. Williams '13

T.R. Williams '13, Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, gives the Legal Educational Opportunities (LEO) Banquet keynote address on March 3, 2022.

[@milwaukeeduke414]

2020 I opened up a pro se lawsuit against my ex-wife our two insurance agents and State farm insurance company just before the pandemic and tried to explain it the best I could... Then I hired an attorney after he got paid he completely disappeared, fired him and hired another attorney to only get the exact same results... started off super promising...June,22. Had to have him admit under oath that his excuse was health issues so now I'm back to pro se...June,22. I was finally able to get the office of commission to help me out with the case and they did a deposition on the insurance agent and let her know that she committed a privacy rights violation.... This is the second time the commission was able to send a demand letter and both of them were ignored... June, 22. So I amended my complaint to the privacy right violation GLBA... Breach of fiduciary duty... Fraud.... And some others. Just for clarity the lawsuit is against the State farm insurance company and my agent and her assistant for allowing my ex-wife to switch the names of the policy owners from my name to her name without ever getting my permission or notify me before or after the change... keep in mind we purchased the policies before we got married and I was the principal owner of three of them and she was the owner of one... when she got done, she was the owner of all four. The policies were purchased in 1999 (whole life insurance)... My agent never informed me of my rights and never met with me alone without my wife present... Never sent me the yearly required privacy notice and opt out... In 24 years. 2012-2014 The agent sent a copy of my three insurance policies to my ex-wife prior to our divorce in 2015 and she had a handwritten a note on top of it... "These three are owned by Marcus call me" and then her number, all while we were separated and living in two different locations with multiple various policies through State farm, however she continued to send the life insurance policy information to my ex-wife residence even though I was the sole owner of the policies. Shortly after she received the policy information she requested the change of ownership paperwork be sent and my agent and her assistant obliged and sent it out. Sometime around August 2014 the policies were changed into her name without my knowledge or consent, the agent defense is, they worked with her primarily throughout our relationship and that she dealt with the policies so they assumed my signature was on the change of ownership policies (no notary required, per State farm policy)... My ex-wife also missed our final divorce hearing and I was awarded all of the policies in the divorce decree in 2015 I immediately approached State farm about the policies and that's when they informed me that I did not own the policies anymore... Then after some fussing and some fighting they finally sent me my personal policy information with a $10, 000 loan balance that I did not authorize.... my ex-wife took it out without my knowledge. I immediately reached out to the "State farm insurance fraud division" to let them know I did not sign off on any loans or any change of ownership, only to be shoved to the side and ignored. I spent the next few years with rapidly deteriorating health... With depression and anxiety becoming so bad that I was unable to work or function throughout the day for several years. Immediately I started losing business, family, acquaintance, and the desire to live... I tried to continue working on my future plans and continue dreaming big and continue praying for peace... I tried to set up my entertainment company Duke entertainment I tried to continue running a non-profit that I started in 1994 club kids ii danger saved Incorporated.... I tried to start my multiple KZbin channels I tried to continue being the entrepreneur I was the majority of my life.... Fruits of my labor for the previous 25 years we're starting to pay off and I was starting to get worldwide attention and recognition for lifelong achievements. I was finally about to receive my well-deserved dues for my community service and my entrepreneur skills and was blessed with an unexpected but often dreamed about opportunity. In July of 2016 I received the call of my life letting me know that I was the recipient of the "BET Shine A Light Award". A moment that black entertainers and entrepreneurs dream about. In the Black culture this is like winning an Oscar.... However, by the time I receive this accolade and several others I was beyond inflicted with depression, anxiety, and so many other disorders... I tried everything in my power to continue moving forward and taking advantage of my blessings. After not being able to work, I lost everything I owned in Milwaukee, so I packed up and moved to Phoenix to follow my kids and grandkids only to get there and lose everything else I had including my family... Not being the primary bread winner and not being able to support my family I quickly realize the power of money and love. The next few years 2017 to early 2020 were the worst years of my life... Weekly suicidal thoughts, homelessness, severe depression, anxiety and family separation like never before.... In 2020 after laying up in a shelter for men in Mesa Arizona and after getting some help for my health I was able to go to the neighborhood library and file the lawsuit. Shortly after I started the lawsuit covid hit and pretty much shut the country down... In the meantime the case has been going through the system slowly mainly because my two previous attorneys were acting incompetent and in my opinion were deliberately trying to sabotage the case... State farm insurance was actively trying to eliminate the case by any means necessary. So I filed a contempt of court against her (ex-wife) for not honoring the original divorce decree in 2015 and the commissioner recommended that she be found in contempt, we go back to court in August.... Her attorney still hasn't turned over the policies... The Wisconsin office of insurance commission demanded that State farm return the policies at full value and they haven't yet... I was surprised... I thought that body had a lot of power. On July 12th at our status conference hearing I am supposed to decide if I want to hire another attorney or go back pro se.... The attorneys have not gotten me anywhere and have tried to sabotage the case many times... But I also realize I'm going up against a giant in State farm... But I do believe with all my heart that the law is on my side and I will prevail. wcca.wicourts.gov/caseDetail.html?caseNo=2020CV001597&countyNo=40&index=0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/f36VqJWAhNGjrpo #StateFarm #Lawsuite #civillaw #PolicyOwner #NoYourRights #Wisconsin