A lawyer-turned-judge’s law firm sat on a wrongful-death case for so long the statute of limitations ran out – and the firm apparently tried to cover up the mistake with phony court documents, an explosive lawsuit claims.
“It’s unbelievable,” Margherita Merola said of Silver & Santo’s actions – and inaction – in the suit she thought she had had filed in Staten Island on behalf of her late son, Anthony. “I feel violated. I completely trusted them.”
Her new lawyer, Ravi Batra, says in court papers that her trust was completely misplaced. He says the firm apparently tried to con the heartbroken Staten Island mom into thinking it was working on her case by sending her a copy of her suit with official-looking court stamps, even though it was apparently never filed.
The firm broke up in 2002. Steven Santo could not be reached for comment, and George Silver, who was elected a Manhattan Civil Court judge in 2004, did not return calls.
Their lawyer, Mark Housman, called Merola’s legal-malpractice suit “quite frivolous” and predicted it would be thrown out.
Merola’s legal ordeal dates back to 1998, when her 19-year-old son, Anthony Magro – who she called “a joy of a person” – was killed. He was riding in a Ford SUV with Firestone tires when the driver lost control and the vehicle flipped. Merola said family friend Santo suggested she file suit against Ford and Firestone.
In early 2002, frustrated that Santo had stopped returning her calls, she said, she demanded his firm send her a copy of her $40 million lawsuit, which she’d never seen. She was faxed a copy of the suit she’d been told was filed on in March of 2001 on Feb. 6, 2002.
But she said Santo still wouldn’t return her calls, and a fed-up Merola hired Batra in 2003. He told her Santo’s firm had committed malpractice by waiting too long to file suit – the statute of limitations had run out on the wrongful-death claim in November 2000. Batra said he ran into the same roadblocks Merola had when he asked to see her file.
Finally, in January 2004, Batra was sent a copy of the suit, which was signed by Santo.
The copy sent to Batra had the same courthouse-issued file number as the one Merola says she was given in February 2002, but with the year changed from 2001 to 2002. Richmond County court records also show no evidence her case was ever filed in any year. No suit by Merola was ever served upon Ford or Firestone.
“It was all baloney,” said Merola, 55.
Santo and Silver’s lawyer said he did not know why there was no record of the case. The firm maintains in court papers that the suit was indeed filed in 2002, and that the earlier version that was sent to Merola was just a draft.