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However, Mr. Cohen alleged that the plaintiff’s legal team, Broder & Orland, took steps to attempt to intimidate the arbitrator (Lynda Munro, a retired judge). Mr. Cohen had emailed Broder & Orland and his email was not returned. Instead, Mr. Cohen alleged that Broder & Orland took the time to attempt to intimidate Judge Munro via email (paragraph 13).

In paragraph 14 of the Defendant’s Motion for Sanctions, Mr. Cohen states that the behavior engaged in by Broder & Orland is “unbecoming of a professional lawyer.”  He also went on to allege that Broder & Orland had “prevaricated” the situation. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “prevaricate” as to deviate from the truth.

Finally, in paragraph 19, Mr. Cohen requested that the Court sanction Broder & Orland because “The rules of professional responsibility binding her do not bend so wistfully to her client’s demands.” Mr. Cohen also requested reasonable attorney fees and costs as well as for plaintiff’s attorney read Rules of Professional Conduct from cover to cover and file a certificate of completion with the Court. We reached out to Mr. Cohen’s office for a statement and we did not receive a response by our deadline.

Prime Example Of Financial Hardship In A Divorce

According to the public case file in the Passaman case (FST FA 11-4021040-S), Broder & Orland represented Gerrit Paasman as a defendant in a divorce proceeding filed by his former wife Carol Paasman. Mrs. Paasman was awarded $25,000 a month for support before the case ended. She was granted sole custody of the minor children.

The defendant was seriously behind in his support payments and wanted a modification. However, because he wasn’t paying, Mrs. Paasman had to ask the court for a continuance because she had no money for an attorney.

In the meantime, Mr. Paasman’s legal team at Broder & Orland hadn’t turned over requested financial documents (which would help the court determine if there was a need to modify) and also asked the court for a continuance to turn over the documents. If a client truly needed a modification, shouldn’t the client and attorneys work together to produce the proper documents?

Filing continuances and appearing in court on those motions (and on motions to modify) runs up the cost of legal fees...money that the client and the opposing party allegedly did not have.  Delay tactic or not, the only losers here are the minor child and Mr. and Mrs. Paasman, as legal bills continue to mount instead of going to child and spousal support.

You Get Billed for Everything Your Attorney Does

Looking again at public record divorce cases involving Broder & Orland, in the case of Louise and Ludovico Iacono, the firm eventually filed a motion to withdraw from the case. Mr. Iacono had already paid out substantial fees (and quite a bit of money in a settlement).