HOUSTON - A Texas federal court has dismissed a litigation funder and a Texas attorney from a barratry class action that was brought by a Louisiana resident after hurricanes caused billions in damages.
Seeking more than $5 million in damages, Katherine Monson, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, filed suit against McClenny, Moseley & Associates, James McClenny, John Zachary Moseley, Tort Network, Equal Access Justice Fund and EAJF ESQ Fund on April 3, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for Southern Texas, Houston Division.
The suit states that several hurricanes caused catastrophic damage in Louisiana between 2020 and 2021.
“The fallout from these hurricanes, all of which occurred as the country was still in the throes of a global pandemic, was tremendous,” the suit states. “Property owners were faced with massive damage to their residences and a shortage of contractors available to repair the damages. Insurers were inundated with thousands of property damage claims – some folded and others pulled out of Louisiana entirely.
“In the wake of these hurricanes, when residents and property owners throughout Louisiana and elsewhere were at their most vulnerable, Defendants took unfair advantage to enrich themselves.”
The suit alleges thousands of unsolicited messages were sent out to individuals stating that the recipient has a hurricane storm damage claim pending and contained a link to a form which stated that the form needed to be filled out in order to claim compensation.
“These communications did not contain the word “ADVERTISEMENT” or in any other way indicate that they were advertising material for MMA or MMA’s services,” the suit states. “MMA used the unsolicited text communications, telephone calls, emails, and the website www.DisasterClaimHelp.com to improperly solicit an attorney-client relationship with Plaintiff.
“At no point did Plaintiff have a family or lawyer-client relationship with any of these attorneys.”
Court records show U.S. Magistrate Judge Yvonne Ho’s memorandum and recommendation was filed on June 24, finding that Monson’s claims are impermissibly extraterritorial as she “is a citizen of Louisiana who claims she received improper solicitations via phone regarding potential storm damage claims in Louisiana.”
On Oct. 1 the federal court adopted the judge’s recommendation, granting the requests of dismissal filed by Tort Network, EAJF and McClenny.
Case No. 4:23-cv-00928
