A former patent lawyer who a judge has called a “fool” for representing himself in a bitter custody battle with his estranged wife is still going to trial without hiring an attorney.

“I’m broke,” Anthony Zappin — formerly of the Mintz Levin law firm — told The Post on Friday.

He shelled out $100,000 in seven months to the celebrity firm that repped Katie Holmes in her split from Tom Cruise and has spent $200,000 more for supervised visitation with his 2-year-old son, he said.

Manhattan Judge Matthew Cooper wrote in a publicly released decision earlier this month that Zappin, 30, is the poster child for the adage “A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.”

Cooper fined the Columbia Law grad $10,000 for allegedly scribbling “you’re pathetic” on a motion to a prior judge handling the divorce and trashing the court-appointed attorney for the child as “a very sick and greedy woman” on a blog.

The unemployed Zappin said the judge’s ruling was “false” and plans to appeal the fine.

Zappin sued his ex, Claire Comfort, 32, who also is an attorney, for divorce shortly after they had their child in 2013.

The trial, expected to last eight days, starts in November.