Feds Seek to Foreclose on Attorney's Home Over Unpaid Taxes
The U.S. government has sued Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, attorney Donald Maclachlan in U.S. District Court to obtain judgments on more than $1.5 million in unpaid income and payroll taxes and to foreclose on tax liens against his home.
February 07, 2018 at 05:00 PM
3 minute read
The U.S. government has sued Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, attorney Donald Maclachlan in U.S. District Court to obtain judgments on more than $1.5 million in unpaid income and payroll taxes and to foreclose on tax liens against his home.
The suit seeks to reduce to judgment assessments of $1,075,469 against Maclachlan for income tax, interest and penalties for 2001-2007 and 2012. In addition, the suit seeks judgments for payroll taxes against Maclachlan for $355,825 and against his law practice, Maclachlan Law Offices LLC, for $132,129.
The suit also seeks to foreclose against a home owned by Maclachlan in Allendale, New Jersey, and seeks a determination of the interests of other parties named as defendants, including Maclachlan's wife, Marie Napoliello Maclachlan; the mortgage holder, Ocwen Loan Servicing; the New Jersey Division of Taxation, and the law firm of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti, which recorded a judgment against him in 2016.
The suit asks for a judgment declaring federal tax liens attached to the Allendale property to be foreclosed and an order for the property to be sold free of any liens or claims. The suit asks for the proceeds of the sale to be distributed to parties who assert an interest in the property and prove their entitlement to the proceeds. The suit also asks for any party who does not appear and assert an interest to be ordered not to have an interest in the property.
Maclachlan and his wife bought the house in 1994 for $435,000, according to court papers.
Riker Danzig officials could not be reached for comment regarding the firm's judgment against Maclachan. A published account said the firm sued Maclachlan and his firm in 2015, claiming it was owed more than $150,000 for work the firm performed after he sought its assistance with class action litigation he filed.
In 2004, Maclachlan was among the attorneys for plaintiffs in a class action that accused hundreds of car dealerships of overcharging car buyers by a few dollars each for registrations and titles, Cerbo v. Ford of Englewood. In that case, with a class of 2.7 million members, the fee award was over $5 million. Class members in the case got coupons toward auto repairs and future car purchases.
Last October, the Supreme Court issued an order declaring Maclachlan ineligible to practice for failure to meet mandatory continuing legal education requirements.
A listed phone number for Maclachlan's law office was not in service, and the number for his home was unpublished. The lawyer who filed the case for the Department of Justice, Beatriz Saiz, did not respond to a reporter's call about the case.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'This Trend Isn't Over': Law Firm Partner De-Equitizations Expected to Continue
Navigating the Storm: Pulling Through a Crisis When ‘the Worst’ Is Over (Part 2)
8 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Call for Nominations: Elite Trial Lawyers 2025
- 2Senate Judiciary Dems Release Report on Supreme Court Ethics
- 3Senate Confirms Last 2 of Biden's California Judicial Nominees
- 4Morrison & Foerster Doles Out Year-End and Special Bonuses, Raises Base Compensation for Associates
- 5Tom Girardi to Surrender to Federal Authorities on Jan. 7
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250