A federal judge has rejected a Louisiana personal injury law firm’s lawsuit that sought to block the embattled McClenny, Moseley & Associates (MMA) law firm from collecting attorney fees in cases involving former MMA hurricane-damage claims.
Judge Lance Africk of the Eastern District of Louisiana granted MMA’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Morris Bart LLC on Oct. 16. The Morris Bart firm took over an estimated 2,000 property insurance claims cases from MMA after the Houston-based firm faced misconduct allegations for mass-filing questionable claims in Louisiana and had its attorneys suspended from practice in the Western District of Louisiana.
MMA’s lead attorney in Louisiana, William Huye, was also suspended from practicing law in the state.
In addition, the Morris Bart complaint accused MMA of interfering with Morris Bart’s business relations with former MMA clients and sought an injunction to stop MMA from taking part in “the unauthorized practice of law.”
In a technical ruling, Africk concluded that no justiciable controversy existed to support the lawsuit’s claims and that Morris Bart lacked proper standing. The claims of intentional business interference and unauthorized practice of law were dismissed with prejudice, while the request for declaratory relief was dismissed without prejudice for lack of proof of specific, concrete harm to the law firm.
A Morris Bart attorney, Austin Marks, said Africk’s decision doesn’t change anything as the firm moves forward with the property insurance claims it took over from MMA.
“Nothing in the order gives MMA a right to claim any fees in any cases,” Marks told the Louisiana Record. “What the judge said is that because MMA is not asserting their lien, we don't have standing in the Eastern District. So in a backwards way, he said MMA is pretty much gone, out of the equation.”
The claims Morris Bart took over from MMA are in various conditions, he said, adding that in some cases, attorneys had to start over from scratch.
“When we picked up these cases and got in touch with defense lawyers, they responded gleefully because they had been trying to reach out to MMA attorneys for months,” Marks said. “We’re moving them as quickly as we can considering the state we received them in.”
Africk’s opinion noted that both the Eastern and Western districts in Louisiana had stayed all claims filed by MMA pending further deliberations by the courts.
“This matter arises from the fallout of ‘an unprecedented tableau of misconduct’ by MMA, ‘assisted in its misdeeds by an Alabama-based roofing contractor, and an Arizona-based modern-day case runner,’” the judge’s opinion said.
MMA has also been accused of engaging in questionable mass advertising and solicitations with a business called Velawcity, seeking out potential clients whose homes were damaged by Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta and Ida.
“Morris Bart alleges that ‘MMA’s suspensions resulted in hundreds of Louisiana property owners having no legal representation to pursue their hurricane claims in pending lawsuits,’” the opinion states.
The judge also said Morris Bart’s request for a temporary restraining order was moot because MMA had already agreed in negotiations to cease all communications with former MMA clients.