On Monday, July 21, 2025, the Director of the Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility filed a petition for disciplinary action against Attorney Nuro B. Dedefo with the Minnesota Supreme Court. Dedefo faces allegations of professional misconduct related to the mismanagement of client funds and failure to maintain proper trust account records.
The case is entitled “In the Matter of Nuro B. Dedefo.”
The petition outlines a history of disciplinary issues for Dedefo. In 2008, the Minnesota Supreme Court suspended him for six months for filing a false affidavit, obstructing access to evidence, engaging in conduct prejudicial to justice, and mishandling client trust funds. He was reinstated in 2010 and placed on supervised probation for two years, which he completed in 2012.
The current allegations stem from an investigation initiated after an overdraft notification on May 17, 2022, regarding Dedefo’s trust account. The Director’s audit, covering January 2021 to October 2023, revealed persistent shortages in the trust account, ranging from $30.54 to $26,225.68, between July 2021 and September 2022. These shortages resulted from Dedefo transferring unearned client funds to his personal Wells Fargo account to cover personal expenses, including investments. The petition details multiple transactions, such as a $3,880 transfer in October 2021 and a $13,105.67 transfer in May 2022, which prevented overdrafts in his account but constituted misappropriation of client funds.
Dedefo admitted to transferring client funds to his account, claiming he later returned them. However, the petition alleges he redacted bank statements to conceal these transfers, providing false and misleading statements to the Director, violating rules of professional conduct.
Additionally, Dedefo failed to maintain required trust account records from January 2021 to September 2022, including client subsidiary ledgers, check registers, trial balance reports, duplicate deposit slips, and memoranda for electronic transfers. Instead, he reconstructed these records in response to the Director’s request, violating Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct.
The alleged violations include rules governing trust account management, honesty in statements to disciplinary authorities, and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.
The petition states:
“WHEREFORE, the Director respectfully prays for an order of this Court imposing appropriate discipline, awarding costs and disbursements pursuant to the Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility, and for such other, further or different relief as may be just and proper.”
According to Avvo.com, Mr. Dedefo is an attorney in Blaine, Minnesota. He acquired his law license in Minnesota in 2001.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
