The mass tort vertical is always causing trouble.
Craig Cunningham– yes that Craig Cunningham–recently sued a bunch of mass tort players claiming he received illegal calls looking to enroll clients in a Camp Lejeune scam.
Specifically he was allegedly called by a guy encouraging him to sign up with a law firm to make a claim even though he was never stationed at the camp. He was promised $150k to do so allegedly.
Cunningham went along with the ruse to find out who was behind it, apparently. He ended up hooked up with Wallace & Graham, P.C. (“Wallace & Graham”), Rhine Law Firm, P.C. (“Rhine Law Firm”), and Sokolove Law, LLC (“Sokolove”).
Rather than pursue a Camp Lejuene claim, however, he filed a TCPA suit against these entities and six individual defendants: Mona Lisa Wallace, Bill Graham, Whitney Wallace Williams, Mark P. Doby, Joel R. Rhine, and Ricky A. LeBlanc who he claimed were behind the illegal calls.
If you spend a little time googling these folks you’ll see they’re pretty big players in the space and it looks to me that the calls at issue were third-party lead generation calls by folks in the mass tort vetical.
Nonetheless the law firms that seemingly bought the leads/took the referrals are all stuck in the suit as well–as are all of the individual defendants except Ricky LeBlanc who want properly served.
In denying a motion to dismiss the court held the allegations against the defendants were sufficient to state a claim.
The complaint alleges that LeBlanc “mastermind[ed]” the supposedly “illegal telemarketing scheme” and that the Individual Defendants “personally participated in the actions” described in the complaint by signing the retainer agreement sent following the calls, personally contacting Cunningham to persuade him to sign the agreement, “overseeing the corporate Defendants’ marketing efforts,” and “generating business from and personally supporting the telemarketing calls.”
The Court found these allegations were sufficient to keep the individual Defendants in the case.
The complaint alleges that Sokolove partnered with Wallace & Graham to solicit Camp Lejeune claimants through telemarketing efforts and that Wallace & Graham and Rhine Law Firm were both signatories of the proposed retainer agreement sent to Cunningham after the calls. (Doc. 1 ¶¶ 50, 52.) These allegations, which must be accepted as true, provide a sufficient basis for “draw[ing] the reasonable inference that the defendant[s] [are] liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678.
These allegations were sufficient to keep the law firms in the case as well.
Yet another reminder folks:
- The TCPA contains MASSIVE PERSONAL LIABILTY RISK–notice some of these defendants are stuck in the case despite the fact they did nothing more than sign an engagement letter with Cunningham;
- Lawyers can be sued directly and personally for marketing efforts that violate the TCPA;
- Even a repeat player TCPA litigator can bring these claims and win;
- Plaintiff’s law firms can–and do–sue one another under the TCPA because there is THAT MUCH MONEY IN IT.
Side note, Troutman Amin, LLP does NOT represent plaintiff’s law firms– which is why we never attend mass torts made perfect even though we get asked to do so every year. hahaha.
What we DO attend is the DNC.com TCPA summit in Florida, however. And you should to!!!
Chat soon.