#RHONJ Teresa Giudice’s Lawyers Accused of Fame Whoring & Violating Confidentiality In Bankruptcy Settlement Talks! (Court Docs)

Real Housewives of New Jersey convicted felon, Teresa Giudice and her former attorney, James A. Kridel Jr., battled it out in court this week!

Tuesday’s courtroom showdown centered around Giudice’s legal team disclosing confidential information to a New Jersey federal bankruptcy judge about a failed mediation in her malpractice suit; and Giudice’s lawyer fame whoring details of the case to the press.

As readers know, the RHONJ star filed a malpractice lawsuit in July 2015 — alleging Kridel’s legal representation as her bankruptcy attorney led to her guilty plea and incarceration.

Kridel’s attorneys argued that Carlos Cuevas — Giudice’s lawyer, and a bankruptcy trustee in the malpractice case, violated the confidentiality requirements attached to the mediation by addressing that proceeding in an August 16 letter to Judge Stacey L. Meisel.

“In the section of the letter addressing the mediation, he not only comments on the plaintiffs’ evidentiary submissions to the mediator, but also gives his ‘spin’ on the positions and conduct of the defense during the mediation,” Kridel’s attorneys wrote in a letter on Tuesday. “The fact that his remarks are inaccurate and disparaging does not make them any less violative of the applicable confidentiality restrictions.”

“On behalf of Mr. Kridel, we therefore object to the letter as a violation of the confidentiality applicable to the mediation, and ask that it be stricken from the public record,” the lawyers added.

In a letter to Judge Meisel on Tuesday — Cuevas denies communicating any confidential information concerning the mediation.

“It is simply counter-intuitive for Mr. Kridel to expect that I would not report back to this Court that the Kridel Mediation had failed,” Cuevas wrote. “One of the hallmarks of a bankruptcy case is full transparency to the Bankruptcy Court.”

“Does Mr. Kridel want this Court to be kept in the dark as to what is occurring in the Kridel Lawsuit?” he added.

Cuevas’ request for a status conference in the matter was granted and is scheduled for September 18.

The case was reopened earlier this year after Judge Meisel in December approved a related settlement between Giudice and John W. Sywilok, the trustee of her Chapter 7 estate.

Under the settlement, Teresa will keep 55% of the net proceeds from the legal malpractice suit with the remaining 45% going to any remaining creditors.

The parties engaged in mediation earlier this month. In an August 16 letter,  Cuevas informed Judge Meisel that the mediation failed to produce a settlement and claimed that Kridel has “engaged in a scorched earth defense.”

“Mr. Kridel’s bad faith litigation conduct is brought to this Court’s attention because this Court reopened this bankruptcy case to afford Trustee Sywilok the opportunity to administer an important asset: the claim against Mr. Kridel,” said Cuevas, who also serves as special counsel to Sywilok in the bankruptcy case.

But Kridel’s lawyers on Tuesday objected to the proposed status conference, “to the extent that its purpose is to address the confidential mediation proceedings.”

“Any discussion of those proceedings in open court, in our view, would constitute a further violation of the confidentiality attached to those proceedings,” the lawyers wrote in their letter. “In addition, with the litigation pending in State Court, we believe this Court is the wrong forum in which to address the substance of pre-trial resolution of the case.”

Cuevas countered in his Tuesday letter to Judge Meisel.

“all the parties would benefit from Your Honor’s insights because if there is a proposed settlement this Court will have [to] determine whether it complies with the requirements of Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9019.”

“It is bizarre that Mr. Kridel objects to a Status Conference that could be beneficial to all the parties,” Cuevas wrote.

Kridel’s lawyers also called out Cuevas for fame whoring to the press after Cuevas commented to a news outlet regarding the mediation. Kridel’s lawyers noted that Cuevas’ effort to garner publicity interferes with reaching a resolution in the case, makes further mediation proceedings less likely and taints any potential jury pool.

Kridel’s lawyers asked Judge Meisel to put a gag order in place — preventing Cuevas and his co-counsel from communicating with the media regarding the malpractice suit.

Read Kridel’s legal counsel’s letter to the judge below:

[scribd id=357212398 key=key-b9c1oxK6DX0Hc2jE6hwG mode=scroll]

Cuevas defended his comments in the news article. He claims that the, “request for a gag order is untenable and unwarranted,” citing Kridel has no legal grounds for the demand.

“It is bewildering that Mr. Kridel would take offense with my comment that listening to a judge could have a salutary impact on a pending case,” said Cuevas, adding that it is hypocritical of Kridel to complain about media coverage when he discussed the lawsuit in a 2015 article. Referring to the “Housewives” show, Cuevas also noted that Kridel “has twice appeared on Bravo TV on the RHONJ giving two legal consultations to the Giudices, which is stupefying.”

In March 2014, the reality starlet and her husband, Joe Giudice, pled guilty to bank fraud and bankruptcy charges. The felonious couple admitted that they concealed their assets in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing and fraudulently secured millions in mortgage loans through falsified applications.

Teresa and her husband were sentenced to prison terms of 15 months and 41 months, respectively. She was released on December 23, 2015, while Joe remains incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix.

 

“Like” us on Facebook  “Follow” us on Twitter and on Instagram