A Connecticut divorce lawyer has turned over some, but not all, of the client information needed to comply with the court-ordered closure of her practice after she was disbarred for making alleged antisemitic claims about a conspiracy to control the state court system.
Nickola Cunha, who was disbarred in January for the maximum allowable period of five years for persistently making antisemitic claims about a judicial conspiracy, was found in contempt of court in April and last week failed to show up for a court hearing in Middletown before the judge who disbarred her.
Cunha was ordered to comply with instructions concerning the closing of her law practice — which is being handled by an appointed trustee — and explain why she withdrew $30,000 from a client account for her own alleged use after the Judge Thomas Moukawsher, who disbarred her, told her not to do so.
Last week, Moukawsher issued a capias for Cunha, meaning she had until a certain date and time to comply with court orders before she could be brought into court by marshals to explain herself. The timeframe for the capias was extended multiple times last week and early this week and, as of Tuesday morning, had been extended until 3 p.m. Tuesday.
At 2:45 p.m. on Friday, Cunha allegedly walked into the North Haven law office of Corrine Boni-Vendola, who is the trustee of Cunha’s firm, according to court records.
Boni-Vendola wrote in a report filed Monday that she was not in the office when Cunha showed up, so the disbarred divorce lawyer met with Attorney Nicole R. Crocco and turned over three client files, according to court records.
She told Crocco that most of her other clients’ files were in the possession of her clients, but the trustee reported to the court that she was not able to contact the clients because she did not have phone numbers, email addresses or addresses for them, according to court records.
Crocco filed a list of more than 30 clients that Cunha said she’d given notice and files to, had plans to hand over files to or who had other secured new lawyers who now have their case files. Crocco also reported that Cunha did not provide information for at least eight of her former clients.
The attorney also wrote that they were still missing information about upcoming court dates for Cunha’s clients, information on retainers paid or about balances owed for at least some clients; that the trustee’s office had not yet received a list of clients’ funds, interest trust accounts or accounts maintained by Cunha, including bank account information and original checks; and that they’d gotten called from at least two of Cunha’s former clients who were asking about the return of retainers they paid in the amounts of $2,500 and $3,000, according to court records.
No comments:
Post a Comment