As a bankruptcy lawyer, Christopher Chadick took $49,000 from nearly 50 clients over the past three years but in most cases never filed paperwork that would’ve protected them from creditors, according to court papers. His failure to file the bankruptcy cases resulted in clients having their wages garnished, tapping retirement accounts and, in one case, losing a home. It...
Christopher ChadickAs a bankruptcy lawyer, Christopher Chadick took $49,000 from nearly 50 clients over the past three years but in most cases never filed paperwork that would’ve protected them from creditors, according to court papers.
His failure to file the bankruptcy cases resulted in clients having their wages garnished, tapping retirement accounts and, in one case, losing a home.
It also resulted in Chadick being forced to resign in March from practicing law in federal court in the 32-county Northern District of New York for the rest of his life.
Chadick took about $1,000 apiece from 49 clients to file for bankruptcy protection, but never filed anything in most cases, according to records filed the U.S. trustee for bankruptcy court. In a few cases, he did file the papers but failed to show up in court, according to the filings.
The court papers on Chadick’s disciplinary proceedings were unsealed last month, revealing the names and details of the clients he left in the lurch from as long ago as 2007.
At the same time he was collecting payments from people then not filing, Chadick was part-owner of a collection agency that stood to profit from tracking down unpaid debts from people.
Michael DiBella (left) and his mother, Barb Esser, sit at her home in Syracuse. Christopher Chadick never filed bankruptcy papers for DiBella, causing his wages to be garnished.One of Chadick’s legal clients was Michael DiBella, 33, of Syracuse. He and his mother, Barbara Esser, went to Chadick in 2007 because DiBella was having trouble paying bills, in particular a college loan, Esser said. She paid Chadick $1,000 and assumed he would file for her son, who has a disability that allows him to work only part-time, she said.
When the creditors started calling, Esser knew something was wrong, she said. She kept calling Chadick’s office for an explanation but only got excuses for why the bankruptcy petition wasn’t filed, she said. Months went by, then a year and another year, she said. Finally, she went into the office and Chadick explained that he’d taken on a huge discrimination case, she said. He told her he would send her papers to another lawyer, but he never did, and he’s never refunded her money, Esser said.
As a result, the lender who gave DiBella money for college started garnisheeing his wages about eight months ago, Esser said. His $900 disability payment per month has been reduced to $700, she said.
“If he was living by himself, he’d end up on the street,” she said.
Virginia Bennati, 60, had to make a withdrawal from her 401k account to pay her bills because Chadick failed to file her bankruptcy case after she’d paid him $1,600 in 2008, she said. After more than a year, Chadick refunded her $320, she said. Every time she’d call to check on the status of her case, Chadick or his staff were rude, she said. An employee often answered the phone by saying simply, “What?” she said.
“When people are down and out, lawyers are supposed to be there to help us, not hurt us,” Bennati said. “I just wanted to get my life back on track.”
She and others have filed complaints against Chadick to the attorneys’ Grievance Committee, which investigates allegations of misconduct by lawyers. If the committee finds against him, his punishment could range from censure to disbarment.
Chadick, 58, agreed to repay his clients and admitted to many of his ex-clients’ accusations, according to a court agreement he signed.
One client after another reported to the U.S. Trustee for bankruptcy court that Chadick had taken their money but never filed for bankruptcy. Many of them started having their wages garnisheed by creditors. Carrie Waite said she and her husband lost their home because Chadick never showed up in court for them.
“Here I sit ... looking like a liar to my creditors as I have informed them I was filing for bankruptcy and yet nothing has been done in this regard,” Paul Spuches wrote in a letter to Assistant U.S. Trustee Guy Van Baalen. Spuches paid Chadick $1,300 in June 2008. More than a year later, Chadick had not filed his bankruptcy case and would not refund Spuches’ money, the letter said.
Van Baalen, who prosecuted the case against Chadick, would not comment.
Many of the clients couldn’t afford to pay another $1,000 to $1,300 to another bankruptcy lawyer.
In a letter to the Grievance Committee last year, Chadick explained that he suffered from depression and a heart condition that required bypass surgery, according to court records. He also presented a letter from a doctor saying Chadick’s mental condition “has impaired his ability to function in his professional capacity,” according to a ruling by U.S. District Judge David Peebles.
A bankruptcy judge who reviewed Chadick’s work last year said the evidence showed he lied to clients and engaged in “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.”
In addition to his bankruptcy practice, Chadick was a shareholder in a collection agency, Phoenix Recovery LLC, owned by Lisa Vale.
Chadick wouldn’t comment on the bankruptcy cases, but said in a phone interview that his law practice had nothing to do Phoenix Recovery.
When she filed for bankruptcy in 2004, Vale hired Chadick as her lawyer. She was unemployed then, according to her filing. She did not return a phone message.
Chadick said he was an investor and shareholder at Phoenix Recovery, but that he no longer was associated with the business.
He also said he’s retired from the law.
--Contact John O’Brien at jobrien@syracuse.com or 470-2187.