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On February 20, 2014, Mr. DePerno physically grabbed (me) by the shirt and informed me that if I did not immediately pay the attorney fees owed that my wife and I would lose our home in a matter of weeks, Ronald Moffit, who died in 2019, said in hissworn affidavit. Nov 2. Michigan GOP delegates chose ex-President Donald Trump's candidates for attorney general, Matthew DePerno, and secretary of state, Kristina Karamo. He picked the fight and then billed them $130,000. Forton said his decision was meant to ensure that a "grassroots-type" hopeful had a chance to win. Before the November election, she unsuccessfully sued and asked a judge to require residents of Detroit, Michigan's largest city, to vote in person or obtain their ballots in person at the clerk's office. They need to see a party actually advocating for the values we espouse. The ProAssurance Casualty Company alleged DePerno made unreasonable demands of attorneys they had hired to represent him in the Moffits malpractice suit. UP First. 469 views. DePerno is best known for defending former state Rep. Todd Courser after a 2015 sex scandal cover up and challenging Antrim County election results in a failed lawsuit that spawned ongoing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Putman and Glaser each got 12% on the first ballot. Submit. "I don't have a bad word to say about him, and other than people he grew up with and has been around his whole life, I probably got to know him better than anybody since the November election," Bailey said. Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. For the 53-year-old attorney's detractors, he's a threat to democracy with a questionable professional record that includes an ongoing state criminal investigation into a scheme to access voting tabulators. Nessel, the Democratic attorney general, later acknowledged that her office is investigating DePerno but said she recused herself from the probe given the political implications and will appoint a special counsel if charges are warranted. "Someone had to step up and take charge of what was happening. He alleged oppression of a minority shareholder and said his termination caused "extreme mental anguish, emotional distress, shock and humiliation.". Their insurance company initially offered to pay them $123,360 for personal property losses and living expenses but asked a judge to determine whether another $80,000 should go to the Moffits or the IRS, whom they owed money to, according to court filings. "Him and I had discussions as to whether I should run," DePerno said. Lansing Kristina Karamo, who lost her secretary of state race by 14 percentage points but refused to concede, will lead the Michigan Republican Party following an 11-hour convention and three rounds of voting Saturday at the Lansing Center. In an interview Tuesday, DePerno told Bridge he and colleagues had a dispute on where the firm was going but resolved the case with mutual satisfaction. He declined to discuss specific allegations, citing the secrecy agreement. While the case was ultimately settled, what he saw in pre-trial hearings was abhorrent, Buhl told Bridge Michigan. In another suit, the Michigan Court of Appeals dismissed a DePerno request to disqualify a judge from a lawsuit involving lakefront property easement, and highlighted an unusual comparison DePerno had made in a 2015 court hearing. The News asked DePerno and Nessel to release their most recent tax returns. A year later, with the fire reimbursement case seemingly resolved, DePerno presented the Moffits with a $109,879 check from their insurer $13,421 less than the original payment offered three years prior and a $137,779.38 bill for his legal services, according to the malpractice lawsuit. New York University School of Law Master of Laws (LL.M.) Michigan GOP precinct delegates will vote to endorse a candidate at an April 23 convention that will decide the partys de facto nominee to take on Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel in November. Him and I had discussions as to whether I should run, DePerno said. The special prosecutor, D.J. DePerno's campaign didn't respond. He fights the fight for the little guy, and for the good guy. Then, on June 23, 2021, DePerno filed a motion to have the bench warrants set aside "nunc pro tunc," essentially meaning the cancellation should be retroactive to the day the warrants were issued in February 2020. Show your unity and support today! Kristina Karamo (Secretary of State) - $796,022. Trump had also endorsed DePerno in that . I've taken on cases that people even in the media have disagreed with.. Matt is a native of Michigan and has been a Kalamazoo resident with his wife, Laura, since 1994 after receiving his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy. DePerno faces incumbent Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel on Nov. 8. John Engler. DePerno and state Rep. Daire Rendon, R-Lake City, were part of a group accused of "gain(ing) unauthorized access and compromised tabulators" in Roscommon County, Richfield Township, Lake Township and Irving Township between March and June of 2021, state attorneys allege. The Michigan Court of Appeals ultimately upheld the decision to allow Dodge to remain a judge. He cut his teeth as a tax attorney in southwest Michigan but eventually expanded his Portage-based practice. But it leaves him running to. ", "If it wasn't for Matt, we'd be out on the streets," Dernis told Bridge. The parties later settled for $20,000, which Detroit News publisher and editor Gary Miles called a message that frivolous lawsuits against news organizations for performing their duties under the First Amendment will not be taken lightly.. One of DePerno's Republican convention opponents in the spring, Leonard, called on DePerno to detail what happened with the money in March. The grievance commission, the investigative arm of the Michigan Supreme Court, only makes its findings public if it authorizes formal charges against a lawyer with the state Attorney Discipline Board, which it did not do for DePerno. As a tax attorney who worked primarily in Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties, his legal career has been marked by discord. Trump has thrown significant political weight behind DePerno, endorsing him, speaking on his behalf at aMar-A-Lago fundraiserand announcing plans to stump for him and other endorsed candidates at aMichigan rally on April 2. They advanced to a second round before Karamo beat DePerno in the third and final vote. DePerno wasnt paying attention in first grade when he was told how to behave himself, Magistrate Joseph Scoville said in announcing the sanctions at a May 2012 hearing, according to a transcript reviewed by Bridge. You can also contact us by using this form: First Name. The warrant was recalled when DePerno and The News reached a $20,000 settlement in May 2021. Whitmer won her first term by 9 points over Republican Bill Schuette in 2018. ", Eric Castiglia, chairman of the Republican Party of Macomb County, said DePerno is gaining steam politically because of his focus on the "rule of law.". DePerno also has fiercely loyal supporters who defend his legal work, including clients, who contend hed make a strong attorney general. He went on to repeatedly appear in Antrim County court to challenge the November 2020 election results while the warrant was in place. Beginningin June 1995, he practiced at Kreis, Enderle, Callander & Hudgins, but he had a falling out with the firm, which accused him of "acts of fraud and dishonesty" and alleged he "padded" his billable hours. Matthew DePerno: What to know about Michigan GOP attorney general candidate. Matthew DePerno (Attorney General) - $771,799. DePerno had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Ann Arbor Republican Matt DePerno, who's asking voters to make him Michigan's top law enforcement official on Nov. 8, faced a bench warrant for his arrest about two months before he launched his campaign for attorney general, according to court records. ", Matt DePerno's rapid rise in GOP politics mired in controversy, lawsuits, an Ann Arbor firefighter who challenged the city's COVID-19 vaccine policy, The numbers became jumbled during the communication of the unofficial results to the county's election management system, push for an "independent and nonpartisan forensic audit" in Antrim County, "misleading information and illogical conclusions. On Dec. 18, Karamo released a vision for the party that included converting "'GOP-phobic youth' by transitioning schools from indoctrination to education," giving "precinct delegates control over the party" and holding Republican elected officials "accountable to using the Constitution as their measure for governing.". Thus began another unexpected legal fight, as the Moffits hired a new attorney to stop the foreclosure sale and sue DePerno for legal malpractice, alleging he fought their insurer without their consent, overbilled and padded billings, including a $13,000 charge to reassemble their case file after DePerno parted ways with his law firm at the time, Veritas Group. DePerno, 53, is a Portage-based attorney who primarily works on tax cases and worked primarily in Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties. He moved to Kalamazoo Michigan in 1995 after law school, where he currently resides with his wife of 25 years, Laura and their two dogs Toby and Kodak. Maddock called DePerno and Secretary of State hopeful Kristina Karamo the "strongest candidates" to address "the stolen 2020 election" and push for a "forensic audit" of the states voting in that contest. DePerno has begun to pivot to other issues during the general election campaign, but a special prosecutor is investigating him and others on allegations they illegally accessed voting machine equipment in their efforts to investigate the election. DePerno refused. The nomination wont be official until a separate August convention, but the early endorsement will allow a candidate to raise funds and campaign as the presumed nominee. A court filing showed the bench warrant was stamped "canceled" on May 6, 2021. DePerno, speaking with Bridge, called the assault allegation an outrageous attempt by the Moffits to avoid paying their legal bills. DePerno called Buhls accusations total nonsense and told Bridge the matter was ultimately dismissed by the grievance commission, as it should be., While Buhl said the professional code of conduct for attorneys prohibits him from revealing results of the grievance commission investigation, he called DePernos characterization of dismissal the farthest thing from the truth.. 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DePerno is a leading advocate for a forensic audit of the 2020 election. Elissa Slotkin announces bid to succeed Debbie Stabenow. Published reports say Nessel's office is asking that a special prosecutor investigate whether the Republican candidate for state attorney general, Matt DePerno, and others should be charged in . The COVID-19 pandemic hit Michigan weeks after the DePerno bench warrant was signed. In early August, Nessel sought a special prosecutor to consider potential charges against DePerno and eight others because of an alleged "conspiracy" to gain improper access to voting machines in Michigan. "I can't answer that question," the lawyer said. I think the party recreates itself locally. Where Michigan attorney general foes Dana Nessel and Matthew DePerno stand. Matthew has published 21 legal reports based on his findings from the forensic audit. DePerno, 53, is a Portage-based attorney who primarily works on tax cases and worked primarily in Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties. George Dernis, who DePerno has represented ina nearly eight-year legal battleover foreclosure of Michigan properties hed used as collateral to purchase a grocery store, said DePerno helped guide his family through hell and back., If it wasnt for Matt, wed be out on the streets, Dernis told Bridge. As he's campaigned for attorney general, DePerno vowed to "investigate and prosecute Gov. DePerno's work with Courser led to a years-long defamation suit against The News and staff member Chad Livengood, who broke the story of Courser's affair and the lawmaker's scheme to hide it. But he told Bridge he cannot discuss details because of a confidential settlement. Karamo, considered a favorite among the party's grassroots but viewed as divisive among the establishment, beat out former attorney general candidate Matt DePerno, 58% to 42%, in the third round of voting. "Thank goodness that most of my cases were nothing like this one. Other Republican activists also lined up behind DePerno, citing his aggressive approach. "Although we didn't emerge victorious tonight, I believe we sent a strong message to Lansing. "Were going to win.. When Courser and DePerno sued The Detroit News over its original reporting on the sex scandal, Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Timothy Connors dismissed the case and ordered Courser and DePerno to jointly pay $79,701.63 in sanctions. Dana Nessel was joined alongside Ingham County Election Clerk Barb Byrum and state Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) for a live stream during the former president's rally in Macomb County Saturday night. Vote Karamo. People get into disputes and they say things about each other in litigation, he told Bridge in a phone interview. He is currently representing an Ann Arbor firefighter who he said was fired for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19. All (DePerno) was interested in was generating fees for himself and protecting his way to collect it, Buhl said. Nessel's office began its investigation in February, before DePerno was her opponent. @mdeperno. The grievance commission can also privately admonish an attorney or place them on contractual probation, but those lighter punishments are not made public. Asked about his candidate's changing financial status, Shepard said DePerno's law firm attracted a lot of new business during the period after early 2020 partly because of restrictions Gov. I think its extremely problematic, Truscott told Bridge Michigan. GOP attorney general nominee Matthew DePerno at a Macomb County Trump rally, Oct. 1, 2022 | Laina G. Stebbins.