Philadelphia firm Ciardi Ciardi & Astin is defending a legal malpractice lawsuit in Florida after ex-clients alleged two attorneys put them on the hook for a $4.3 million deficiency judgment over a Palm Beach County property foreclosure in 2009.

The federal lawsuit points the finger at commercial litigators Albert A. Ciardi III, the firm’s partner and managing attorney, and former associate Thomas D. Bielli, now of Philadelphia firm Bielli & Klauder. It accuses the attorneys of trying to hide the judgment from their clients and preventing them from moving promptly against it.