NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) - The law firm accused of filing hurricane-damage lawsuits on behalf clients who didn't consent to them has defeated claims from a rival firm.
Morris Bart LLC sued McClenny Mosely & Associates in May in Louisiana federal court in a fight over would-be plaintiffs seeking insurance coverage for homes damaged by hurricanes. MMA is accused of sending a roofing company to obtain an Assignment of Benefits that allows it to negotiate with a homeowner's insurer.
Unbeknownst the homeowner, lawsuits allege, Apex Roofing then hires MMA to do that work and take a contingency fee from the insurance proceeds.
Morris Bart's lawsuit alleged MMA continued to try to represent those clients, even as they switched representation to Morris Bart. Much of that dispute was resolved with a consent order, but other claims in the lawsuit remained.
On Oct. 16, Judge Lance Africk rejected them, finding Morris Bart lacked the standing to seek the remaining relief requested.
"Here, MMA is not threatening Morris Bart with liability," Africk wrote. "Rather, Morris Bart is asking this Court to adjudicate fact-intensive questions involving over 1,200 attorney-client agreements and to determine whether MMA is entitled to any fees in each of those cases.
"Although the Court expresses deep concerns about the extent of MMA's misconduct and the numerous difficulties it has caused, that is simply not a basis for Article III standing in this lawsuit."
The lawsuit sought declarations that contracts between MMA and its clients now represented by Morris Bart are "absolutely null" and that MMA couldn't assert claims for attorneys fees in any suit in which Morris Bart now represents a former MMA client.
The alleged scheme has brought trouble for the MMA, particularly William Huye, the managing attorney of its Louisiana office.
Huye was temporarily suspended from practicing law in March, with Judge James Cain citing "ongoing misconduct" and a failure to properly document expenses for settlement approval.
Louis Carter - who has filed a class action against MMA, Apex Roofing and a marketing company called Velawcity - says an Apex representative approached him about roof damage suffered at his house following Hurricane Ida. The rep told him he could pay Apex a $500 deductible to fix the roof, then sign an Assignment of Benefits that permitted Apex to "get the ball rolling" on the insurer assessing the damage, the suit says.
Carter alleges this AOB contained no mention of MMA. The insurer, meanwhile, said the damage to the roof was nowhere as severe as Apex claimed.
"Eventually, Plaintiff was able to speak to the adjuster who inspected his property, who informed him off the record that his insurance company had been served with a letter of representation by MMA, who claimed that Plaintiff was their client, so the insurance company was no longer able to speak to Plaintiff directly," the suit says.
"This was the first time Plaintiff had ever heard of MMA or heard that it was claiming to represent him."
After weeks of trying to contact MMA, Carter finally told an attorney there that he did not want MMA representing him, the suit says. Carter preferred to handle the insurance claim himself.
Ultimately, MMA sent a "Notice of Withdrawal of Representation" to the insurer, the suit says. Carter said this was inappropriate, as he had never hired it in the first place.
"Plaintiff's experience dealing with MMA and Apex is similar to the experience of countless others across the State of Louisiana who had run-ins with Apex and MMA, and serves as one example of the schemes perpetrated by Defendants that have caused damage to the class of persons alleged in this petition," the suit says.