State Rep. Munoz ordered to pay nearly $3 million in legal malpractice case
A federal judge ordered state Rep. Sergio Muñoz Jr. to pay nearly $3 million in restitutions in connection with legal malpractice after concluding that the lawmaker failed to disclose a business relationship with state District Judge Jesse Contreras during a case Muñoz took in Contreras’ courtroom.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez “ordered, adjudged and decreed” in a nearly three-year-old lawsuit that the plaintiff — Law Funder LLC — recover $2.98 million from Muñoz and the Law Offices of Sergio Muñoz Jr., according to a court documents.
Muñoz, D-Palmview, previously represented Law Funder, which is a litigation funding company. In May 2011, Law Funder retained the services of Muñoz for representation in a divorce case in which Contreras was the presiding judge.
Almost a year later, multiple motions were filed to disqualify and/or recuse Contreras due to a corporate relationship with Muñoz, according to court documents.
Read more: http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_3ef2563c-b6c9-11e7-9351-d72a5190a41e.html