UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

CASE NO. 20-CIV-81205-RAR

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION,

Plaintiff,

v.

COMPLETE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

GROUP, INC. d/b/a PAR FUNDING, et al.,

Defendants.

____________________________________/

DEFENDANT DEAN VAGNOZZI’S MOTION

FOR LEAVE TO FILE A DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION AGAINST 

INSURERS OF ECKERT SEAMANS AND JOHN W. PAUCIULO, ESQUIRE

Defendant, Dean Vagnozzi (“Vagnozzi”), by and through his undersigned counsel, hereby 

submits this Motion for Leave to file Declaratory Judgment Action Against Insurers of Eckert 

Seamans and John W. Pauciulo, Esquire. 

1. On June 29, 2023, the Court granted the Receiver’s Motion to Reimpose 

Litigation Stay as to all claims asserted against the law firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, 

LLC (“Eckert Seamans”) and its former law partner, John W. Pauciulo (“Pauciulo”). (ECF # 

1628.)

2. The basis for reimposing the Litigation Stay was the Receiver’s representation 

that he and class action counsel for investors in Par Funding have reached a “settlement in 

principle” with Eckert Seamans and Pauciulo. 

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3. The Receiver’s Motion to Reimpose Litigation Stay (ECF # 1598) provided no 

details – no settlement amount and no other terms or conditions – about the “settlement in 

principle.” 

4. Vagnozzi is not a party to the proposed settlement and was not asked to be. 

5. Vagnozzi, however, filed a Motion to Compel the disclosure of the settlement 

term sheet (ECF # 1632), and shortly thereafter, the Receiver disclosed the written terms of the 

“settlement in principle” on the condition they remain confidential. 

6. Because Vagnozzi agreed to keep the written terms of the settlement in principle 

confidential, they are not repeated or attached hereto. 

7. But, as reported to the Court during the June 29, 2023 Status Hearing, the 

settlement includes “Eckert agree[ing] to put up the policy limits, the remaining policy limits on 

the policies that we understand could provide coverage for the claims at issue.” 6/29/23 Tr. at 

38:6-9. 

8. The Receiver further reported to the Court at the June 29, 2023 Status Hearing 

that “one of the two important things to Eckert is a bar order,” which, according to the Receiver, 

would “bar additional claims against Eckert Seamans related to these losses.” Id. at 39: 6-9. 

9. The Receiver also informed the Court that “[o]nce the settlement is negotiated and 

finalized, our plan is, before we finalize it, we’d like to work with Mr. Haynes [sic] and the 

Parker plaintiffs. We’d like to discuss with Mr. Buchetto [sic] and Dean Vagnozzi whether they 

are part of that settlement. We’d like to try to wrap everything together, present it to this Court, 

and have a bar order entered as part of an order approving settlement.” Id. at 40:2-8. 

10. Thus, among the many issues the Court will need to determine before approving 

the Receiver’s settlement with Eckert Seamans and Pauciulo, which purports to obtain 

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“remaining policy limits on the policies” and will “bar” other claims not part of the settlement, is 

whether the terms are “essential, fair and equitable.” In re Seaside Eng’g & Surveying, Inc., 780 

F.3d 1070, 1079 (11th Cir. 2015) (citation omitted).

11. As part of the Court’s decision-making process of whether the proposed 

settlement terms are “essential, fair and equitable,” the Court will need to determine the available 

insurance for all claims asserted against Eckert Seamans and Pauciulo, including the claims 

asserted by Vagnozzi. 

12. The Receiver is, apparently, seeking to include Vagnozzi’s claims in his 

settlement and/or will ask the Court to “bar” Vagnozzi’s claims as part of the proposed 

settlement.

13. A fundamental unresolved issue with the Receiver’s proposed settlement is that it 

apparently does not account for the availability of additional insurance proceeds arising out of 

the multiple claims asserted in Vagnozzi’s malpractice Complaint, which aside from acts of 

malpractice related to Par Funding investments, also includes acts of malpractice that have no 

connection to Par Funding whatsoever. 

14. Under the language set forth in the governing insurance policies, Vagnozzi’s 

malpractice claims cannot all be included within the “single Claim” liability limits related to Par 

Funding, but rather Vagnozzi’s Complaint contains separate “claims” having no connection with 

Par Funding which trigger $50,000,000 of additional insurance proceeds apart from the 

insurance proceeds the Receiver’s settlement purports to obtain. 

15. In this regard, Vagnozzi has prepared a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment 

against the insurance companies insuring the malpractice liability of Eckert and Pauciulo, which 

seeks a declaration that Vagnozzi’s Complaint does indeed contain separate claims that trigger 

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the $100,000,000 aggregate limits of the subject policies. A copy of that proposed Complaint is 

attached hereto as Exhibit “A.” 

16. Although Vagnozzi does not believe his Complaint for Declaratory Judgment is 

covered by the Court’s original Stay of Litigation or the reimposition of that Stay, because the 

Court has stayed Vagnozzi’s malpractice claims, out of an abundance of caution, he is requesting 

leave of Court to file the Complaint in this Court for efficiency purposes and because the Court 

has jurisdiction over the Receiver’s settlement with Eckert Seamans and Pauciulo. 

17. By allowing Vagnozzi to pursue his Declaratory Judgment Complaint in this 

Court, the Court can determine the disputed insurance coverage issues that will directly impact 

the Court’s decision on the propriety of the pending Receiver’s settlement, including whether the 

settlement is “essential, fair and equitable.” 

WHEREFORE, based on the foregoing, Defendant Dean Vagnozzi respectfully requests 

that this Honorable Court enter an Order substantially in the form submitted herewith which grants 

Vagnozzi leave to file the proposed Declaratory Judgment Complaint attached hereto as Exhibit 

“A.” 

Respectfully submitted,

BOCHETTO & LENTZ, P.C. 

1524 Locust Street 

Philadelphia, PA 19102 

Telephone: 215-735-3900 

Fax: 215-735-2455 

E-mail: gbochetto@bochettoandlentz.com

By: /s/ George Bochetto 

George Bochetto, Esquire 

Pro Hac Vice 

Attorneys for Dean Vagnozzi

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 And

 EATON & WOLK PL

Local Counsel for Bochetto & Lentz, P.C. 

2665 S. Bayshore Drive, Suite 609 

 Miami, Florida 33133 

 Telephone: 305-249-1640 

 Email: wwolk@eatonwolk.com

 mcomas@eatonwolk.com 

 By: s/William G. Wolk__________ 

 WILLIAM G. WOLK

 FBN: 103527 

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing document was electronically filed on August 2, 

2023 with the CM/ECF filing portal, which will send a notice of electronic filing to all counsel of 

record. 

Respectfully submitted, this 2nd day of August, 2023. 

 BOCHETTO & LENTZ, P.C. 

 1524 Locust Street 

 Philadelphia, PA 19102 

 Telephone: 215-735-3900 

 Fax: 215-735-2455 

By: /s/ George Bochetto 

 George Bochetto, Esquire 

 Pro Hac Vice 

E-mail: gbochetto@bochettoandlentz.com 

 Attorneys for Dean Vagnozzi 

 

 And

 EATON & WOLK PL

Local Counsel for Bochetto & Lentz, P.C. 

2665 S. Bayshore Drive, Suite 609 

 Miami, Florida 33133 

 Telephone: 305-249-1640 

 Email: wwolk@eatonwolk.com

 mcomas@eatonwolk.com 

 By: s/William G. Wolk__________ 

 WILLIAM G. WOLK

 FBN: 103527 

 

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