Jared Klein, former law firm Blank Rome and Nochumson, sued for fraud

James De Berardine believed a contractor who had worked at his nightclub owed him $20,000.

The owner of NOTO on Vine Street contacted his attorney, Jared Klein, and asked him to file a lawsuit on his behalf. And Klein did it in January 2019 – or so De Berardine thought.

Years passed and the case made no progress. And then, in November 2022, De Berardine received an email from Klein saying, “finally.” Attached was what appeared to be an order from the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in favor of De Berardine for $20,000, signed by Judge Patricia A. McInnerney.

In the email, Klein expressed optimism that payment to the contractor would continue.

But the order was false, according to De Berardine’s lawsuit filed last week. Judge McInnerney, who appeared to have signed the 2022 order, retired in 2018. And court records show no lawsuits matching the information provided in the allegedly falsified court order.

The recent lawsuit, filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas by Jeffrey Goodman of the Philadelphia-based law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, accuses Klein of creating “dozens of fraudulent, false and falsified court orders, default judgments, of requests for sanctions and settlement.” agreements. »

This is the last of Klein’s troubles. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court revoked his license to practice law in that state. in August. Court records do not detail why Klein was disbarred, but show he did not fight it.

“As a lawyer, I’ll be honest: There’s nothing worse than forging court signatures,” Goodman said. “This is something I’ve never seen before.”

De Berardine’s lawsuit also accuses the last two companies that employed Klein — Blank Rome and Nochumson — of “negligent and reckless” oversight that “allowed this misconduct to continue.”

Blank Rome, a national firm with an office in Philadelphia that employed Klein starting in 2020, said in a statement that his employment there ended in November.

“Subsequently, we reported him to the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board,” the statement said. “We cannot make any further comment on pending litigation.”

Klein joined Nochumson, a Philadelphia-based real estate law firm, in January, according to the complaint.

Alan Nochumson, founder of the firm, said he took action after learning of De Berardine’s concerns. At the end of July, he was no longer employed by the company.

“I contacted the Philadelphia court system and the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board, which ultimately led to Mr. Klein’s termination and disbarment,” Nochumson said in a statement.

Klein, of Collingswood, could not be reached for comment. No lawyer was yet listed for him in court records.

“The judge was in rehab.”

De Berardine’s relationship with Klein began in 2018, according to the complaint. The owner of Meritis Group, which manages a 120-unit building on Vine Street, and Culloo Entertainment, among other companies, he retained Klein as his personal and business attorney.

In subsequent years, Klein claimed to have filed lawsuits on behalf of De Berardine, even though he had not done so, thereby allowing the statutes of limitations to pass, the complaint states. Klein also shared with his client several court orders showing rulings in favor of De Berardine in contract dispute cases, but they were false, the lawsuit claims.

In 2021, for example, Klein shared with De Berardine via email a wire receipt for $78,000 from a Meritis tenant who allegedly broke his lease. But the funds were never deposited and the receipt was fake, according to the lawsuit.

In 2023, De Berardine was in the process of opening a NOTO nightclub in Houston. Klein negotiated the commercial lease for the location, the complaint alleges. But the lawyer was not licensed to practice law in Texas.

Klein said he told his client he had filed at least two lawsuits in Texas, one in state court and another in federal court, related to breach of contract (the complaint does not provide details). De Berardine accuses Klein of having simulated legal agents in the two non-existent cases. A federal decree is dated April 30, 2029.

And when De Berardine asked why the court wouldn’t enforce the order in his favor, according to the complaint, Klein told him that “the judge was in rehab,” leading to a delay. But the real reason was that the order wasn’t real.

In September, De Berardine’s club in Houston received an expulsion notice, which the lawsuit says was the result of Klein’s misconduct.

Culloo filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court on October 1. The lawsuit claims the bankruptcy was the result of Klein’s fraudulent behavior, which allegedly cost De Berardine “millions of dollars in direct and consequential economic damages.”

The lawsuit accuses Blank Rome of failing to share information with De Berardine about the circumstances of Klein’s departure in 2023. The complaint says the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reviewed the lawyer’s misconduct based on a complaint “which allegedly came from Alan Nochumson”.

The companies are named in the lawsuit as defendants because Klein was acting as an agent, Goodman said. Throughout the legal process, more information will be revealed about what the companies knew and what actions they took or failed to take, he said.

“Engaging in egregious conduct, such as forging court signatures or falsifying court orders,” Goodman said. “This is a total violation of the fundamental attorney-client relationship.”