Atesa hired Cedeño to represent her in a divorce proceeding against Anthony at a time when Atesa was particularly vulnerable, both emotionally and financially. She faced, inter alia, a pending divorce proceeding, a possible loss of child custody, a criminal matter stemming from a recent arrest for assault relating to the divorce proceeding, and a then-ongoing ACS investigation that threatened her relationship with her child. Cedeño, a trusted fiduciary with regard to many of these issues, stressed his ability to obtain positive results for Atesa.

Cedeño made use of especially sensitive personal information learned in the context of the attorney-client relationship, not to advance Atesa’s legal interests but in an ultimately successful effort to develop a sexual relationship with Atesa. To further this objective Cedeño delayed the proceedings, lying to the court and to the parties in the process. He used the delays he wrongfully created to get closer personally to Atesa. And Cedeño’s efforts to further a sexual relationship with Atesa only intensified after Cedeño learned that the Plaintiffs were trying to reconcile. But Cedeño never developed, and given his role and the inherent power imbalance in the relationship could never develop, a consensual sexual relationship with Atesa. Instead Cedeño sexually assaulted Atesa.

The sexual assault, the intentional delays which preceded it, and the deliberate interference with Anthony’s and Atesa’s efforts to reconcile have caused the Plaintiffs to suffer immense emotional and financial damages. Indeed, Cedeño’s ongoing flirtation with his client, and his quest to develop a sexual relationship with her, demonstrate that he placed his own personal interests ahead of those of his vulnerable client, a breach of his fiduciary obligations. Accordingly, Cedeño and his law firm should be held liable for sexual assault/battery, breach of fiduciary duty, violations of Judiciary Law §487, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and loss of consortium, and be required to pay commensurate actual and punitive damages.