Dozens of former clients claim Tampa attorney stole thousands after shutting down law firm

Dozens of former clients claim Tampa attorney stole thousands after shutting down law firm

Attorney shuts down firm, no refunds for clients

Aaron Mesmer reports.

TAMPA, Fla. – A Tampa attorney who recently closed his business continued to come under fire Monday from former clients who said he took thousands of dollars from them and won’t refund their money.

Croce is the latest former client of Dennis Szafran to contact FOX 13 about her situation. She said she reached out to attorney Dennis Szafran in 2021 to help her maintain guardianship of her soon-to-be 18-year-old son, Vincent Croce.

Croce has a receipt showing she paid Szafran $3,800 in September. Less than a month later, Szafran shuttered his business. Croce said he never filed her case.

Dozens of former clients claim Tampa attorney stole thousands after shutting down law firm

Clients claim Szafran stole thousands.

“I regret the fact that I ever looked him up and actually retained him as an attorney,” she told FOX 13, adding her son turned 18 last week, but the celebration was hardly what she envisioned. “To try to make it as happy as I could for him was so hard.”

Croce said she never received any notification that Szafran planned to close.

RELATED: Bay Area lawyer under investigation after shutting down business with unfinished cases, no refunds for clients

Other clients spoke with

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November 1, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Law firm Foley Hoag sues New York lawyer over bankruptcy fees

Law firm Foley Hoag sues New York lawyer over bankruptcy fees
Law firm Foley Hoag sues New York lawyer over bankruptcy feesreuters/3V3NF3S3GNMVJCT4MJHGS3HXII.jpg 1080w,https://www.reuters.com/resizer/g9HZ4NyBXZNhMPlva-fIU4CGRkg=/728×0/filters:quality(80)/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/3V3NF3S3GNMVJCT4MJHGS3HXII.jpg 1200w” sizes=”(min-width: 1024px) 560px, (min-width: 1440px) 700px, 100vw” width=”728″ height=”442″ alt=”U.S. one dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration”/

U.S. one dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing Rights

Oct 30 (Reuters) – A New York lawyer is facing claims that he owes more than $871,000 in unpaid attorney fees to a law firm that represented him for four years after his own firm went bankrupt.

U.S. law firm Foley Hoag sued Jeffrey Liddle on Monday in New York County Supreme Court, alleging that he has not made a payment on his balance since December 2022.

Liddle, who now practices at The Liddle Law Firm, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Foley Hoag.

Liddle’s practice is focused on employment and securities law, and typically represents clients who are involved in finance. His past clients have also U.S. law firms Seward & Kissel and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan.

In March 2019, Liddle filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Manhattan, stating he owed more than $10 million to his creditors, which included several law firms, including Kasowitz Benson Torres and Blank

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October 31, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Judge rules Alex Jones can’t use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying Sandy Hook families

HOUSTON – A Texas judge has ruled that Infowars host Alex Jones cannot use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying more than $1.1 billion to families who sued over his conspiracy theories that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.

The decision is another significant defeat for Jones in the wake of juries in Texas and Connecticut punishing him over spreading falsehoods about the nation’s deadliest school shooting. U.S. District Judge Christopher Lopez of Houston issued the ruling Thursday.

Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year and more recent financial documents submitted by his attorneys put his personal net worth around $14 million. But Lopez ruled that those protections do not apply over findings of “willful and malicious” conduct.

“The families are pleased with the Court’s ruling that Jones’s malicious conduct will find no safe harbor in the bankruptcy court,” said Christopher Mattei, a Connecticut lawyer for the families. “As a result, Jones will continue to be accountable for his actions into the future regardless of his claimed bankruptcy.”

An attorney for Jones did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.

On his Infowars website, Jones posted a video saying the judge’s ruling will have little practical

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October 26, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Uptown 240 bankruptcy sale could be back on as saga of troubled Dillon condominium property continues

Uptown 240 bankruptcy sale could be back on as saga of troubled Dillon condominium property continues
Uptown 240 bankruptcy sale could be back on as saga of troubled Dillon condominium property continues
Uptown 240, a proposed 80-unit condominium development on Lake Dillon Drive on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023.
Ryan Spencer/Summit Daily

After being vacated earlier this month, the sale of Uptown 240 may be back on, presenting the latest twist in the multiyear saga for the partially-constructed and bankrupt 80-unit condominium development in the Dillon town core.

Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson said at a Town Council meeting Tuesday, Oct. 17, that Uptown 240 is asking all those who hold liens on the property to reduce or eliminate the amount owed so the sale can go through.

“It seems like things are changing at Uptown 240 with the bankruptcy proceeding,” Johnson said. “This was based on what we knew last week — was that the sale was back on. They were trying to go back around to lien holders to reduce the overall debt.”

Uptown 240 bankruptcy attorney Keri Riley on Thursday filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Colorado that asks a judge to approve a sales contract between Uptown 240 and 240 Lake Dillon Drive Developer with a total purchase price of $12.75 million.

Still, the exact fate of the property remains uncertain. Uptown 240 had until Oct.

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October 25, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Jones can’t use bankruptcy to avoid Sandy Hook payments

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas judge has ruled that Infowars host Alex Jones cannot use bankruptcy protection to avoid paying more than $1.1 billion to families who sued over his conspiracy theories that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax.

The decision is another significant defeat for Jones in the wake of juries in Texas and Connecticut punishing him over spreading falsehoods about the nation’s deadliest school shooting. U.S. District Judge Christopher Lopez of Houston issued the ruling Thursday.

Jones filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year and more recent financial documents submitted by his attorneys put his personal net worth around $14 million. But Lopez ruled that those protections do not apply over findings of “willful and malicious” conduct.

“The families are pleased with the Court’s ruling that Jones’s malicious conduct will find no safe harbor in the bankruptcy court,” said Christopher Mattei, a Connecticut lawyer for the families. “As a result, Jones will continue to be accountable for his actions into the future regardless of his claimed bankruptcy.”

An attorney for Jones did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.

On his Infowars website, Jones posted a video saying the judge’s ruling will have little

… Read the rest
October 24, 2023 by ATTORNEY
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