Houma, La., was hit hard by Hurricane Ida.
NEW ORLEANS – A proposed class action accusing a Missouri-based law firm of abandoning thousands of Louisiana hurricane clients has been removed to federal court in New Orleans under the Class Action Fairness Act.
In August 2024, Louisiana homeowners Gayle Heard, Jamie White and Forest Martin filed a petition for damages and sought class action status in Orleans Parish Civil District Court against Krause and Kinsman Trial Lawyers. The suit alleges the firm entered into joint-venture contracts with McClenny, Moseley & Associates (MMA) to represent thousands of policyholders whose homes were damaged by Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and Ida but failed to perform meaningful legal work on their insurance claims.
According to the original filing, MMA and Krause & Kinsman “contracted with thousands of homeowners” across Louisiana following the storms, using “wide-ranging advertising and solicitation schemes” to sign clients and promising to pursue property-damage claims against insurers. The plaintiffs say the firms hired estimating agencies that “grossly and blatantly” inflated repair estimates sent to carriers, yet still allowed many clients’ claims to lapse or be mishandled.
The class representatives claim Krause & Kinsman joined MMA in a “joint venture” documented in the contracts and agreed to take a significant share of contingency fees while promising to provide a “significant percentage” of the legal work on hurricane claims.
The petition alleges that, in reality, the Kansas City-based firm did not communicate with class members or their insurers, did not seek pro hac vice admission in Louisiana courts and did not move to correct procedural errors that led to dismissals or prescription of claims.
The filing details prior scrutiny of MMA’s hurricane docket in federal courts, including a Western District of Louisiana hearing before U.S. District Judge James Cain that examined mass filings, duplicate suits, incorrect insurers and a 40 percent contingency fee followed by stays of MMA’s cases and disciplinary actions against its lawyers in early 2023.
After Louisiana attorneys associated with MMA were suspended and ordered to terminate representation, the plaintiffs allege Krause & Kinsman still did not step in to file new suits or salvage pending claims, causing class members to lose the ability to recover for storm damage.
The petition accuses Krause & Kinsman of breach of contract and legal malpractice against a proposed class of homeowners who signed joint contracts with MMA and the firm who no longer can bring property-damage actions against their insurers for hurricane losses.
The plaintiffs seek all damages available under Louisiana law, including what they say they “would have received from their insurance providers, but for defendant’s actions and/or inactions,” along with statutory penalties, interest, court costs and attorney fees.
The petition defines the class as all individuals with whom Krause & Kinsman executed contracts for representation in Laura, Delta, Zeta and/or Ida claims and on whose behalf the firm failed to perform work, including failing to timely file suit or fix MMA’s procedural errors within prescriptive periods. The class is further described as persons who had signed joint contracts with MMA and Krause & Kinsman and “can no longer bring a cause of action against their insurer” for hurricane damage because of the defendants’ alleged failures, with exclusions for those whose inability to sue stems from their own actions.
Plaintiffs estimate the class at between 4,600 and 10,000 members.
On July 21, defendant Adam Krause filing the notice of removal citing the Class Action Fairness Act. Krause’s filing argues that CAFA’s jurisdictional prerequisites are satisfied because the case is a proposed class action under Louisiana’s class procedure, the putative class numbers well over 100 members, the aggregated amount in controversy exceeds $5 million and minimal diversity exists between at least one plaintiff and one defendant. Krause says he lives in Puerto Rico and lists other defendants as citizens of Texas, Puerto Rico, New Hampshire, New York and Missouri.
