Attorney Daniel Szostkiewicz of Holyoke, MA; unethical goblin

The state of Massachusetts presented Daniel Joseph Szostkiewicz with a law license in 1993 after he graduated from Case Western Reserve University Law School in Cleveland, Ohio. 

The Board of Bar Overseers found Daniel guilty of the following misconduct.

In one matter, Daniel hired a former client to work in his office as a receptionist. Daniel asked the employee to sign a W-4 form; however, the employee refused to do so, stating that she needed to be paid “under the table” so that she could maintain her MassHealth benefits because her husband was ill.

Daniel well knew that the employee wished to hide her income from state authorities so that she would continue to receive health care benefits for which she otherwise would not have been qualified to receive.

Daniel then agreed to not report the employee’s income to the state and federal authorities. Daniel paid the employee $400 a week for seven months without reporting her income. Daniel then terminated the employee but she was unable to collect unemployment benefits; however, Daniel made the appropriate payments to the state unemployment commission and acknowledged her status as a former employee.

As a result of Daniel’s fraudulent conduct, the employee received unemployment benefits for several months. After an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office, Daniel paid a civil penalty of $2,000.

Because Attorney Misfits in Massachusetts are held to a much lower standard of conduct then everyone else, Daniel was never criminally charged for perpetrating a fraud on the State.

As a consequence of his misconduct, the apologists for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Board of Overseers punished Daniel by gifting him with a complimentary 30-day suspension of his law license.

As we speak (ca. September 2013) Daniel practices with the Daniel J. Szostkiewicz Law Offices at 56-58 Suffolk Street in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Warning: Daniel does not carry legal malpractice insurance