Judging Damn Lawyers
Harris County Judge Cory Sepolio is clearly not a fan of Dolcefino Media. For the record, we don’t care. The judge is spending more time mad at us for investigating DAMN LAWYERS than doing his job JUDGING DAMN LAWYERS.
Judging Damn Lawyers
People have a right to watch the judges they elect dispense justice.
“Hey Joe, are your clients coming?” asks Wayne.
“Don’t know,” replies Joe.
This is the 269th District Court in Harris County, Texas. We’d show you what happened inside this courtroom the other day, but the elected judge is Cory Sepolio, who’s not a fan of courthouse transparency. He said no.
“I’d just like to see more fairness, accuracy, and transparency in the court system,” says Shawna Berliner.
It wasn’t just no from Judge Sepolio. It was more like hell no. Too bad you couldn’t see him say it.
A statement posted by the Judge, “There are no recording devices allowed in this courtroom. There will be no recording or broadcasting of photographs of any kind.”
Texas lawmakers should change that law. The one that gives judges the discretion to ban cameras. Even taking pictures through the windows of his court without sound is not allowed.
It’s a public courtroom, judge. It should be just as open as a small town city council meeting. They stream those now if you haven’t heard. And they shouldn’t have to go to downtown Houston to watch.
What are they afraid of? Even in South Texas where some judges have been accused of improper conduct, they’ve let us inside to record court hearings. Every time we’ve asked.
“Could you please state your full name for the judge, please?” states a court member in Brownsville, TX , for example.
We had asked Judge Sepolio to let us put a camera in the courtroom to record the latest hearing that’s inspired our “Damn Lawyers” investigation.
“What if you discover your own lawyers may have screwed you?” a quote from Wayne in a previous video. The videos have struck a chord around the country with the growing criticism of a screwed up Texas family court system.
“I guess I have two words for it: Judicial fascism,” states Rich Allison, a probate victim.
That was Rich Allison’s reaction after the hearing was over.
But before I get to the judge’s ruling, I want to talk about something else Judge Sepolio ranted from the bench, and it’s about our investigation, our “Damn Lawyer” reports on social media.
Sepolio is clearly not a fan of mine and judge, I simply don’t care. But I need to set the record straight on something else you said. We had called a guy named Don Sepolio after a tipster told us he was following the Allison’s on social media.
At the time, we didn’t know if he had any relationship with the judge. The tip was wrong. But Judge Sepolio claimed we were harassing his family, and threatened the Allison’s lawyers with sanctions if it happened again.
We had not harassed the judge’s family at all. It’s nonsense.
Our first phone call with the guy who turned out to be the judge’s dad lasted a whopping 27 seconds.
“Is Judge Sepolio there, please?” asks our investigative media team.
“Uh, he’s my son. He’s not here,” responds Don Sepolio.
We had to call back. This time the conversation lasted 140 seconds.
“I think somebody just looked up and found my number,” says Don Sepolio.
We never discussed any details of the Allison case with the judge’s father. We just asked him if the tip was true. He said it wasn’t. Case closed.
And the call ended real friendly like.
“I appreciate it very much. Thank you, sir.” “You’re welcome.” “Bye.”
Without ever hearing the audio of the actual conversation, Judge Sepolio threatened us and the Allison’s lawyers. We may never know if that rant from the bench affected the ruling that would come next.
The Allisons sued their lawyers for malpractice in Judge Sepolio’s courtroom. But you don’t get a jury when you sue a “damn lawyer.” Another lawyer decides. Judge Sepolio sent the case to be arbitrated. In this case, by former Dallas judge Anne Ashby.
“A competent, exceptional mediator must be a master communicator,” a direct quote by Ashby. Yet responds to Wayne with, “You know, I really can’t talk about this.”
The judge didn’t pick her. The parties did. And that will be the excuse for denying the Allison’s what they deserve to have. That’s a full investigation into what really happened here. The lawyer should be put under oath like they do to us.
Was it some bizarre coincidence? I don’t think so. That the arbitrator chosen in the Allison case had such a close relationship with the Dallas lawyer who represented their stepmom in the original inheritance fight. A relationship Ashby kept hidden for months.
“You know, I really can’t talk about this, and I don’t know who you are and I’d appreciate you not following me,” the full quote to Wayne from arbitrator Ashby.
“That’s a fraud on the public. And Anne Ashby, in my opinion, the false oath, the fact that she lied under oath right from the beginning, that’s a red flag signal right there,” states Caroline Allsion, a probate victim.
Ashby ordered the Allison’s to pay $4 million to their lawyers, ignoring allegations they had cheated them, taking advantage, self-dealing after the death of Allison’s wealthy dad. It is clear now that Ashby did not fully disclose her relationship with key figures in this case.
In our expert report, we said it had the stench of cronyism. For several months, Ashby claimed she had no conflicts. The disclosures trickled in. She failed to mention that a key witness who was in the case was also the registered agent of her law firm, had worked at the same law firm as the stepmom’s lawyer. Judge Sepolio called Ashby’s conduct alarming and wondered where the State Bar investigation was.
But despite knowing how much this deal stinks, Judge Sepolio denied the Allison’s motion to investigate further. Arguing the arbitrator is not a public official, a court official for the purposes of state law.
But the judgment of an arbitrator is almost always rubber stamped by the judge. Under Texas law, you’re supposed to discover any arbitrator fraud within 90 days of the ruling. But the Allisons, until they hired us, didn’t put all the pieces together, and it’s not fair. They’re in court. They should be able to investigate these very curious relationships.
Sepolio had given lawyers for the Allison’s one more chance to plead their case. But the lawyer for the other side said this, “The Allisons provide no new facts, no new law, and no new evidence. Plaintiffs cannot escape the fact that they’re asking the court to invent new law.”
We already had our cameras in the hallway before the court hearing began to see if any of the damn lawyers would even show up.
“Hey, Joe, your clients coming?” asks Wayne
“Don’t know,” replies Joe
“Do you think they’d like to comment on being called ‘damn lawyers?’” asks Wayne.
“I think you can read our pleadings that we have filed and you will find the truth of what really happened in the pleadings that have been filed,” states Joe.
“What’s the truth?” Wayne pushes on.
The Allisons say they know the truth, claiming their former attorneys were willing to cheat, steal, lie from them to get their big chunk of their dad’s inheritance. The judge knows something is wrong here. Is cheating your clients okay for lawyers?
Houston attorney Jorge Borunda: a no-show. So was attorney Michael Trevino. So was attorney Nicholas (Nick) Abaza.
But Abaza did have time in the last few weeks to talk to the folks at the Verdict Signal podcast.
“There’s a lot of reasons why you do need an attorney um make sure things are done correctly,” quotes Abaza on the podcast.
The Allison’s have asked the state commission on judicial conduct for help. The state bar too. Neither has done it.
“Examining allegations of lawyers financially harming clients, especially in probate matters,” Caroline Allison states during the State Bar Annual Board Meeting on September 25th of this year. “The series began with the Allison family, but after that it became public and additional people came forward.”
The Allison’s are hoping the Texas Supreme Court will come to their rescue. They are going to appeal Sepolio’s ruling, but that takes time. It has consequences.
Here’s the bottom line. Judge Sepolio, you know this thing stinks, but you refuse to help.
“We have our investigation getting pushed out by a whole other year and you can lose evidence. And that’s a problem,” says Caroline.
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