KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) – A California law firm is accused of not paying a litigation services professional it retained to push mass tort cases that turned into a $2.2 billion settlement.
Erik Cooper sued Blum Collins on April 11 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, alleging the firm has reneged on an agreement after Cooper was hired to provide exclusive marketing services to find new clients for lawsuits over the Woolsey Fire in California.
Cooper says he was entitled to $799 per hour, reimbursement of all expenses and up to 10% of attorneys fees received by Blum Collins.
“Instead, (Blum Collins) ignored Cooper’s communications requiring collaboration among the parties, abandoned the parties’ duties and obligations owed Cooper, and have failed to pay Cooper’s invoice since Aug. 31, 2019,” the suit says.
“(Blum Collins has) failed or otherwise refused to provide a justifiable reason for their failure to live up to their contractual obligations.”
Cooper says the settlements received by Blum Collins’ clients were “excellent results” and is seeking an amount to be determined at trial. Cooper says he also brought his experience investigating and offering litigation consulting services in other wildfire cases.