[Cite as Molnar v. Wong, 2021-Ohio-1402.] COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO EIGHTH APPELLATE DISTRICT COUNTY OF CUYAHOGA ERIKA MOLNAR, ET AL., : Plaintiffs-Appellants, : No. 109440 v. : MARGARET W. WONG : & ASSOCIATES CO., L.P.A., ET AL. Defendants-Appellees. : JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED RELEASED AND JOURNALIZED: April 22, 2021 Civil Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CV-18-904952 Appearances: RaslanPla & Company, L.L.C., Jorge Luis Pla, and Nadia R. Zaiem, for appellants. Winter | Trimacco Co., L.P.A., Richard C. Alkire, and Dean Nieding, for appellees. EILEEN T. GALLAGHER, J.: Plaintiffs-appellants, Erika and Zsolt Molnar (“the Molnars”), appeal a judgment denying their motion to quash a subpoena duces tecum issued to the Cleveland Police Department. They claim the following error: The trial court abused its discretion in denying Mr. and Mrs. Molnar’s motion to quash appellees’ subpoena in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1367(a)(2) and 8 C.F.R. 214.14. We find no merit to the appeal and affirm the trial court’s judgment. I. Facts and Procedural History The Molnars came to the United States from Romania in 2004 on ten- year, multiple-entry, B-2 nonimmigrant tourist visas. In 2005, the Molnars retained defendant-appellee, Margaret Wong & Associates Co., L.P.A. (“Wong & Associates” or “the firm”), to assist them in adjusting their immigration status from lawful, nonimmigrant temporary status to lawful immigrant permanent resident status. From April 2005 until October 2010, attorneys at Wong & Associates submitted immigration applications to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”),1 but the attorney-client relationship ended before the Molnars received permanent resident status. In March 201o, the United States charged the Molnars as removable aliens and issued notices to appear in immigration court in October 2010. Shortly thereafter, the Molnars filed a complaint for legal malpractice against attorneys Margaret W. Wong, Lori A. Pinjuh, and Wong & Associates (collectively “defendants”), alleging that attorneys and paralegals at the firm made material 1 The USCIS is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the authorities of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) were transferred to three newly created agencies, including USCIS. Chen, ARTICLE: Citizenship Denied: Implications of the Naturalization Backlog for Noncitizens in the Military, 97 Denv. L. Rev. 669 (2020). misrepresentations both to them and to the USCIS, which caused the Molnars to be subjected to deportation proceedings. The Molnars later informed Cleveland police that attorneys at Wong & Associates knowingly misled them and accepted legal fees for work pursuing immigration benefits that the attorneys knew, or should have known, the Molnars were not eligible to receive. Officers of the Cleveland Police Department signed and certified a Form I-918, Supplement B, stating that the Molnars were victims of qualifying criminal activities under the U immigrant visa (“U visa”) program. In 2000, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, codified as 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(U), which created the U visa program. Under this program, noncitizen aliens can petition for …
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