Philly attorney faces potential discipline for claiming to represent T.J. Siderio’s family in civil lawsuit

Pennsylvania’s legal disciplinary board has accused a Philadelphia lawyer of attempting to file a civil lawsuit on behalf of the father of T.J. Siderio, the 12-year-old who was shot and killed by a Philadelphia Police officer in 2022, without his permission — and even going as far as to ask a judge to declare the father mentally incompetent in what the board says was an attempt to keep the case and cash in on a potential settlement.

The misconduct allegations against J. Conor Corcoran, a civil litigation lawyer, were detailed in a petition filed by the state’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel in December and first reported by Axios. The filing says Thomas Siderio Sr. hired Corcoran in 2015 to represent him in a separate, unrelated police brutality case, and that he did not hire Corcoran to represent him after his son was fatally shot by Officer Edsaul Mendoza in March 2022.

But Corcoran’s attorney, Samuel Stretton, says the story is more complicated, and the result of multiple lawyers competing for a stake in a high-profile case.

“His intentions were good and then everything becomes scrambled,” Stretton said. “It’s a sad situation where other attorneys interfered and everything fell apart.”

» READ MORE: Family of T.J. Siderio, the 12-year-old shot and killed by Philadelphia police, sues the city

Corcoran represented Siderio in two civil cases against the city about eight years ago — both involving separate injuries Siderio said he suffered at the hands of Philadelphia police and prisons officers.

Siderio had been in and out of jail for much of his son’s life on arrests related to assault, theft, and inhaling toxic substances. At the time of T.J.’s death, he was serving a six-to- 12-year prison sentence tied to an illegal gun possession conviction. The gun case stemmed from a 2017 shootout outside a bar in which Siderio’s cousin was killed.

Just two days after T.J. was killed, Corcoran filed a writ of summons attempting to have Siderio named as administrator of his son’s estate, according to the petition — without having even met with or spoken to Siderio about the matter.

The day after filing, Corcoran drove to SCI Coal Township, the prison where Siderio was serving his sentence, to attempt to meet with him but was denied entry because he was not listed on his attorney visitation list.

In a response to disciplinary board, Stretton said Siderio reached out to Corcoran in the days that followed, and the two spoke about the case four times between March and May 2022. Corcoran also spoke with Siderio’s mother and other relatives, Stretton said, and made arrangements to get copies of photos of the child’s body and his death certificate.

Stretton said that, even though the two had not signed a new fee agreement, Corcoran believed he continued to serve as Siderio’s attorney in civil matters.

In April, Corcoran sent Siderio a fee agreement, requesting a 25% cut of whatever money was collected. Siderio never signed it, saying he had other attorneys offering to take a lesser fee.

“There’s multiple lawyers who want this case. 1 lawyer just offered me 20%. ... If you can beat 20% let my dad know,” Siderio said, according to the complaint.

Siderio ended up hiring attorneys at Clearfield and Kofsky to represent him. T.J.’s mother, Desirae Frame, hired the firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky.

Still, Corcoran continued to claim he represented Siderio, according to the filing, and sent emails to the family’s retained lawyers threatening to file complaints against them.

Then, in June, Corcoran filed a petition in Philadelphia’s Orphans’ Court asking a judge to find Siderio incapacitated and to appoint a guardian to oversee his estate and civil cases, according to the filing. The disciplinary board said Corcoran lied about Siderio’s mental troubles, and did not attach any expert medical reports to support his claims.

He also requested that Siderio and Frames’ attorneys be removed from the case. Stretton said he did this because he “was trying to protect Mr. Siderio” from the other lawyers.

A judge dismissed both requests. Finally, in July 2022, Corcoran withdrew his civil action and said the family was being represented by other attorneys, according to the filing.

The effort was a money grab, the board said — “an attempt to force his representation on Siderio, and to secure the substantial attorney’s fees that a case over TJ’s death might bring.”

Corcoran is regretful of how the matter played out, Stretton wrote in response.

“In hindsight ... he should have approached it differently and ... acknowledges he was wrong in believing the first fee agreement covered all three cases,” he said.

Corcoran “was just trying to help” and “believes some of the other attorneys had taken advantage” of Siderio, Stretton wrote.

A hearing in front of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Disciplinary Board has been scheduled for June.