SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Legal Newsline) - Lawyers who got together to pursue Hurricane Maria claims are now tangled in court over a dispute regarding how fees should be split.
A federal lawsuit was filed March 21 in the Puerto Rico federal court by Chehardy, Sherman, Williams, Recile & Hayes, LLP (CSW) and The King Firm.
They are suing Recovery Legal Group, Rafael E. Rivera-Sanchez, Law Office of Rafael E. Rivera-Sanchez, Maytte Texidor-Lopez, Texidor-Lopez L.L.C., Texlo Consulting, Maria Almodovar and Maricarmen Almodovar-Diaz Law Office.
The plaintiffs say all parties reached a joint venture agreement for claims mostly against insurance companies in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Two years later, the defendants sought to increase their amount of fees to 45% of what was recovered, up from 35%.
"Unbeknownst to Plaintiffs, Defendants had secretly been on the verge of resolving some of the claims for millions of dollars when they induced Plaintiffs into agreeing to the revised terms..." the lawsuit says.
The plaintiffs sought to terminate the agreement, and the defendants offered $50,000 despite their share of the fees being much higher, they say.
The plaintiffs are represented by Carlos Steffens Guaman of Steffens Guzman Law