St. Louis attorney Michael Bradley Katz, founder of a one-time breast cancer foundation established in his mother's memory, has been reinstated to practice law in Missouri after being suspended over tax issues earlier this year, according to a recent state Supreme Court filing.
Katz, founder of the Judy Ride Foundation, had been suspended in May for failing to pay taxes. Those issues have been resolved and Katz's suspension was lifted and he currently is listed as a member of the Missouri Bar Association in good standing, according to the Missouri Supreme Court's Aug. 2 order.
Katz was admitted to the state bar in Missouri on April 28, 1989, according to his profile on the state bar's website.
Katz' mother, Judith, died of breast cancer in 1995 at the age of 55, and Katz founded the foundation three years later. The foundation kicked off its first Judy Katz Memorial Spin event that same year, a spin being a popular indoor cycling exercise on stationary bikes.
By early spring 2004, the foundation's fundraising reportedly had reached $600,000, with $550,000 going toward breast cancer education, early detection, treatment and services to under-served women in the St. Louis area.
"Our goal is to make a difference in the war against breast cancer," Katz was quoted in Washington University Law's magazine March 17, 2004. "We accomplish this each year by raising at least one more dollar and making one more person aware of this insidious disease."
The indoor biking event was conducted annually for almost a decade and, for a time, the foundation held the trademark on "THE POWER OF PINK".
The beginning of the foundation's end came in early 2007 when the foundation’s board investigated Katz, alleging financial irregularities, which Katz denied. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in St. Louis also launched an investigation the following summer.
Two years later, Katz sued the board for defamation in a case that continued for several years as he sought vindication while the board countersued. In April 2012, a jury found in favor of the board in its case against Katz and in its countersuit but neither side was awarded much of substance.
The foundation didn't survive the legal rancor but the family of the late Judith Katz reportedly continues the fight against breast cancer in other ways.