Lawyer pretending to represent dad of boy killed by cops was never hired, officials say

A Pennsylvania attorney could be facing disciplinary action after officials say he lied about representing a client, but the lawyer denies that he misrepresented himself in the case.

A petition for discipline was filed in December by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel in Philadelphia County.

In August 2015, Thomas J. Siderio hired the attorney to represent him in a civil case regarding police brutality, according to court documents.

Almost seven years later, on March 1, 2022, Siderio’s 12-year-old son, Thomas “T.J.” Siderio Jr., was shot and killed by a Philadelphia police officer, the counsel said.

Petition for Discipline

The petition says two days after the shooting, on March 3, the attorney filed a writ of summons on behalf of Siderio and presented himself as Siderio’s attorney.

“His intentions were good and then everything becomes scrambled,” Samuel Stretton, the attorney’s lawyer, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s a sad situation where other attorneys interfered and everything fell apart.”

At the time, Siderio was incarcerated, according to court documents, so he had not spoken with the attorney. The attorney admitted that when he tried to visit Siderio in prison, he was denied contact with him because he was not listed on the attorney sheet, the counsel said.

In the writ of summons, the attorney listed Siderio as “individually, and as Administrator of the Estate of Thomas Siderio,” according to court documents. However, “no estate had been raised for TJ and there was no administrator for his estate,” court documents said.

The attorney also omitted TJ’s mother from being listed on any court filings, according to the counsel.

The attorney continued to file court documents and even sent a letter to another attorney who was trying to pick up Siderio as a client, the court document said.

“It is my understanding that you have been communicating with my client, Thomas Siderio, during the course of my representation of his interests in the above captioned matter, arising from the death of his son, TJ,” the letter said, according to officials.

The attorney went on to threaten to take legal action if the other attorney didn’t cease contact with Siderio, officials said.

The attorney then sent Siderio a contingency fee agreement April 22, requesting he sign it and agree to hire him for a 25% attorney’s fee of any gross recovery, according to officials. However, Siderio didn’t sign it and told the attorney he never hired him to represent him.

In June, Siderio retained another lawyer and informed the attorney that he hired someone else to represent him, officials said.

Days later, the attorney filed a petition requesting that the court appoint a guardian over Siderio. He told the court that Siderio suffered from “diagnosed and/or undiagnosed cognitive deficits, mental impairments, and/or drug addiction.”

The motion said that Siderio was “incapable of taking effective action with respect to the management of his assets and/or his person” and that he was “unable to comprehend and, therefore, to act upon the information due to his condition,” according to the court documents.

These statements were false, the disciplinary counsel said.

The attorney filed a motion to defer the case until Siderio would be assigned a guardian and falsely told the court that he had been representing Siderio since 2015, officials said.

“(The attorney) knew that Siderio was not incapacitated and was perfectly capable of making his own decisions,” officials said.

The Response

A response to the petition for discipline was filed Jan. 17 by Stretton on behalf of the attorney.

It states that the attorney represented Siderio in multiple civil cases, including the one concerning the death of his son.

The response says the attorney was unable to access Siderio when he went to the prison, due to him not being listed on the approved attorney’s sheet, however it says he did speak with supervisors who relayed a message to Siderio.

“The supervisors indicated they would speak to Mr. Siderio about the lawsuit being filed on behalf of his 12-year-old son. They advised Mr. Siderio requested the (attorney) take on the case, work with Mr. Siderio and Mr. Siderio’s mother, begin discovery and preserve evidence,” the court document said.

It goes on to say that Siderio told the supervisors he was relieved the attorney was taking on his case and added him to the list of approved visitors.

Between March 10, 2022, and May 26, 2022, the attorney spoke with Siderio about the case four times, Stretton said.

He also said the attorney worked with Siderio’s family to take photos of his son’s body at the funeral home for evidence and get a copy of the death certificate.

The attorney was asked by Siderio’s family to also handle any media request, according to the court documents.

It was when he learned another law firm had been hired that he withdrew himself as Siderio’s attorney after about four months, Stretton said.

The attorney denies that he misrepresented himself as Siderio’s attorney and says he was not motivated by attorney’s fees, the court records said.

The case is set to go before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Disciplinary Board in June, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.