NEW ORLEANS – A Houston-area law firm has asked that a lawsuit filed in Louisiana state court over a fee agreement with a New Orleans firm be moved to federal court.
Defendants Jason Joy & Associates PLLC filed its notice of removal July 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
In February, plaintiff Sangisetty Law Firm LLC – referred to as SLF in court documents – filed its lawsuit against the Houston firm in the Thirty-Second Judicial District Court for Terrebonne Parish, La.
The New Orleans firm named three defendants in its lawsuit, including Jason Joy & Associates, or JJA; Colin Wood; and Kathleen O’Connor. Both Wood and O’Connor reside in Texas. Another defendant, Phil Debaillon of Louisiana, was also named. However, on July 7, Sangisetty and Debaillon filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss Debaillon; the state granted the motion July 10.
The litigation between the two law firms stem from a joint venture agreement they executed in July 2023. The agreement was made to jointly represent clients formerly represented by McClenny Moseley & Associates, another Houston-based firm.
MMA was sanctioned for filing hundreds of questionable lawsuits related to property damage from Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020. In June 2024, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations announced it was investigating MMA, asking for potential victims of the Texas firm to come forward.
As part of the joint venture, JJA and SLF executed fee agreements with nearly 1,000 clients.
According to JJA’s removal request, many of the clients executed agreements that specified that any contingency fee would be split on a 50/50 basis between the two firms.
JJA and SLF also executed an agreement with Xpand Legal Consulting LLC to provide services in support of the joint venture.
The joint venture resulted in millions of dollars in attorney fees, according to JJA.
JJA contends Ravi Sangisetty as well as Jean Paul Coussan – a former Louisiana state senator and now a public service commissioner – and Tanner Magee – a former Louisiana state representative – acknowledged JJA’s contributions. Coussan and Magee were purportedly of counsel for SLF, according to JJA.
But Joy claims he grew “concerned” that SLF was trying to limit his involvement, so it could claim a greater portion than the agreed-upon fee.
“Joy’s concern proved prescient,” according to JJA’s removal request. “Sangisetty and Coussan tried to force Joy to divide his fee interest with Coussan.”
Coussan is not a party to the contingency fee agreements with the jointly represented clients, JJA argues.
JJA contends that when Joy did not agree to divide his fee with Coussan, SLF began denying his access to case files and litigation updates.
“It withheld the status of the amounts of settlement. It removed his access to the joint settlement spreadsheet. It withheld settlement funds. It removed JJA from client settlement statements,” JJA’s removal request states.
Soon after, SLF filed its lawsuit in Louisiana court, JJA claims.
“SLF seeks a declaration that JJA is not entitled to any contingency fee from the jointly represented clients, despite the express language of many of the contingency fee agreements,” according to JJA.
SLF also seeks a judgment holding JJA solely responsible for any money owed to Xpand, which is nearly $800,000.
In addition, SLF seeks to enjoin Joy from speaking to any of the jointly represented clients and seeks damages for allegedly violating the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act.
SLF, in its February petition, claims the fee agreement between it and JJA was not intended to establish a “global split” of attorney fees, but was to be determined based on “the actual work done on each of the client files.”
Also, the New Orleans firm alleges JJA promised – in exchange for its being party to the client fee contracts – to provide “critical” legal services.
“Instead of fulfilling this obligation, JJA improperly delegated substantial responsibilities to Xpand Legal LLC, a third-party vendor company of non-lawyers,” SLF wrote.
“By abandoning the work, outsourcing key responsibilities to non-lawyers, and permitting overbilling practices, JJA failed to fulfill its obligations thereby breaching its duties to Petitioner and clients.”
Gibson Law Partners LLC of Lafayette, La., is representing JJA and Wood in the action.
