A Texas woman has filed a legal malpractice lawsuit against her former attorneys, alleging negligence in handling her arbitration case. Debra Williams, representing herself, lodged the complaint on April 22, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Joshua Clayton, Ben E. Clayton, Thomas J. Hogan Jr., and Kelvin May.
The case stems from an arbitration dispute dating back to May 2021 when Williams hired the defendants to represent her against Bankers Life & Casualty Company and CNO Inc. The claims involved racial discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment. Central to Williams' allegations were testimonies from two key witnesses—Lonnie Brewer and Brent Couvillon—who were expected to corroborate her claims of discriminatory remarks made during a pivotal staff meeting. Despite subpoenas being issued for these witnesses, they failed to appear at the arbitration hearing. The arbitrator questioned their absence but lacked enforcement power over subpoenas in an arbitration setting.
Williams accuses her former attorneys of failing to take necessary legal steps to enforce the subpoenas through judicial means as advised by the arbitrator. In internal communications, attorney Josh Clayton expressed doubts about the enforceability of arbitration subpoenas compared to those issued by a court but did not pursue court intervention. Instead, he suggested seeking an adverse inference due to the witnesses' absence—a strategy that ultimately proved ineffective.
Williams further alleges that despite recognizing the importance of these witnesses’ testimonies, her attorneys did not act on opportunities presented by the arbitrator to issue new subpoenas at additional costs or seek court enforcement under federal law (9 U.S.C. § 7). She argues this inaction constituted professional negligence and breached fiduciary duties owed by her legal counsel.
The plaintiff seeks monetary damages totaling $2.5 million for losses including emotional distress and reputational harm amounting to $1.12 million, financial losses of $700,000 related to employment benefits, and legal fees totaling $80,000 incurred throughout various stages of litigation.
Representing herself pro se in this lawsuit is Debra Williams; no attorney representation is listed for either party within this filing. The presiding judge over this matter is yet unnamed as civil action numbers are pending assignment with Case ID: 2:25-cv-00795-CJB-JVM.