When Christine Persaud, founder and owner of Caring Home Health Care, contacted Abraham Klein to discuss a financing agreement in 2007, she had no way of predicting that she would lose her business and 2.1 million dollars as a result. According to court filings, Persaud claims she never entered into a contract with Mr. Klein, but after forging her signature, Klein was able to take over the 15 million dollar grossing business and its assets.
According to Persaud’s
New York City appellate attorney, a “comedy of errors” ensued, where several court systems and legal representatives made one mistake after another—forcing Ms. Persaud to watch from the sidelines as her company was wrested from her control. When Persaud’s first lawyer did not show up to the preliminary hearing in the lower courts or for the hearing in the Supreme Court, court documents mark that Klein won by default.
“Ms. Persaud was unable to present her case and instead, the opponent was awarded everything on default,” said Stephen Preziosi, Persaud’s appellate lawyer. “It’s like giving someone the winning lottery numbers the night before.”
When
New York appeals lawyer, Stephen Preziosi intervened on Persaud’s behalf, his mission was to return the judges’ focus on the real issue—cutting out the irrelevant motions and returning to the matter of the default judgment. The lawyer likened the case to hacking through a jungle with a machete, an experience that he found to be strenuous and complex yet rewarding.
According to court filings, the appellate court vacated the lower court’s denial of the default judgment and remanded it—which gives Persaud another chance to prove the initial contract and signature were not valid.
“Ms. Persaud is an immigrant from Trinidad who started this business from scratch,” said Preziosi. “A fake contract was going to take all that away, but because the 2.1 million dollar judgment was vacated, she has another chance at proving her claim that her signature was forged. The appeals process works, and anytime I can help a client maneuver tricky legal waters, I am relieved when justice occurs.”
The referenced legal case, titled The Matter of Klein vs. Persaud and Caring Home Health Care is case number 2009-4150, held in the Appellate Division Second Department.
About the Law Office of Stephen Preziosi
Mr. Preziosi established the
Appellate Law Firm after years of extensive experience working for law firms in New York City and throughout the state of New York. He now heads the Appellate Practice at his own law firm and is the official “go to” lawyer for a dozens of law firms throughout the state of New York whenever there is a trial or appellate issue that needs thoughtful consideration and insightful exposition.
