Giudice Sues Ex-Lawyer: Jail Sentence Is Your Fault

She wants $5M from James Kridel
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 4, 2014 10:24 AM CST
Giudice Sues Ex-Lawyer: Jail Sentence Is Your Fault
In this Jan. 4, 2012 photo, Teresa Giudice poses for a portrait in New York.   (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

Teresa Giudice is apparently unhappy that she's headed to prison for 15 months—so unhappy that the reality star is suing her former attorney for $5 million, claiming it's his fault. The New Jersey Real Housewife says James Kridel, who handled the family's original 2010 bankruptcy filing, botched that filing and then "prepared faulty amendments" to it, the New York Daily News reports. She also says Kridel didn't adequately prepare her for her hearing before a Bankruptcy Court trustee and creditors to whom the family owed money; the trustee objected to the Giudices' bankruptcy filing, which led to them being hit with fraud charges and ultimately convictions.

Specifically, Giudice claims Kridel did not meet with her prior to filing the documents, and did not list assets including her cars, rental property income, and even some bank accounts, TMZ reports. In October, Kridel told People he "did not believe that Teresa was all that knowledgeable about any of the finances of her family until ultimately she became the breadwinner. Everyone seems to blame her that she knew or should have known," he said. "I don't find that to be true in real life, though. People come in and sign tax returns quite often, and the spouse who is not in charge of the finances has no information. They just do what the accountant tells them." (Click to see pictures of the $4 million mansion the Giudices were forced to put on the market.)

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