SOSSI BUYS TIME; WANTS TRIAL AFTER WELSHING ON CLIENT

By Juan Montoya
Despite having reached an agreement with a client to pay up after he was sued for legal malpractice, city contract attorney Mark E. Sossi went to the 357th District Court and through his attorney said he wants to go to trial instead.
This is rich.
Sossi, after agreeing in the settlement that he would pay former Oliveira Middle School math teacher and soccer coach Jesus A. Abete., an undisclosed sum of money to after he sued him for legal malpractice last February, a year ago.
Sossi, represented by former city commissioner Anthony Troiani before visiting judge Menton Murray, apparently is either willing to contradict his admission in the mediated settlement he owes Abete money, or he is buying time hoping that it will erase the memories of the facts that led to the lawsuit by Abete in the first place.
This has not been a good year for the well-paid contract attorney. We read somewhere that the IRS slapped a $100,000 tax lien on him, is still repaying a $167,363 settlement to  Willette & Guerra, his old law firm, has been sued twice for legal malpractice, and has been accused of underpaying the Texas Workforce Commission unemployment fees of $20,711.66.
He is also been diligently working to produce a code of ethics for the City of Brownsville.
The city contract attorney – who earns $120,000 ($10,000 a month) to give the city commission legal advice    and another $5,000 ($60,000) to provide like services to the the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC)  (making a total $180,000 annually from both) – apparently can't cough up the dough he owes to his former client.

Sossi agreed to a pay a settlement for an undisclosed sum of money to Abete – represented by Peter Zavaletta – after both parties met with court-appointed mediator  Reynaldo Garza, at his office on or about September 27, 2012.
Abete claims that Sossi failed to pay him as he agreed to after mediation.
Abete's filed the motion and the court on Thursday declared the settlement agreement void for nonpayment.
Abete sued Sossi for breach of contract and legal malpractice and claimed in initial  lawsuit that he "duly signed a contract" with Sossi and to represent him to recover legal damages sustained as a result of an accident. Abete also claims that Sossi represented to him that the case was timely filed in court.
"In the ensuing months, (Sossi) repeatedly lied to (Abete), and misrepresented the true facts of the underlying lawsuit to (him).
"The truth is that (Sossi) never filed suit on behalf of Abete, and by law, suit had to be filed before the statute of limitations expired. The statute of limitations is two years from the date of the accident (January 2, 2009) Jan. 8, 2011. If the suit was not filed by then, (Abete's) rights would have been forever extinguished," the lawsuit states.
"(Sossi) failed to file (Abete's) suit," it continues. "Now that the statute of limitations has expired, (Abete) is forever barred from recovering damages for the serious personal injuries he suffered in the (crash).
 Abete was involved in an accident on Jan. 2, 2009 and the other driver was cited by the city police for failing to yield the right of way. The driver cited in the accident at the time held a valid policy with Farmers Insurance. Abete hired Sossi on Jan. 8 to represent him in a claim for damages for his injuries for which medical care costs exceeded $27,339.
Now, three years after he contracted with Sossi, Abete, who suffered lasting physical injuries, will be put through the legal wringer by Sossi and his attorney Troiani to see whether he can recover something for his pains.