OUT FOR BLOOD: The Wolf Opposes Effort of Attorney to Withdraw Until He Gets His Pound of Flesh

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So not long ago I wrote about a case in which a TCPA defendant was likely to be sanctioned for failing to give up the name of a BPO and trying to assert a Fifth Amendment privilege in a TCPA case.

GIVE UP THE NAME!: TCPA Defendant Ordered to Identify BPO Involved in Allegedly Illegal Despite Ongoing Criminal Proceedings

Well the defense attorney is now attempting to escape from the case but Anthony Paronich– the Wolf of TCPAWorld— is refusing to let him out easy. And it is looking pretty bad for the defense lawyer.

In Margo Simmons v. WP Lighthouse 1:24-cv-01602, Doc 40 (S.D Ind.) the Defendant was previously ordered to produce supplemental responses identifying witnesses and potentially to pay sanctions. The Defendant apparently made the supplement yet the defense counsel claimed he had not spoken to the defendant for weeks. Then the defense attorney moved to withdraw from this case.

This was odd.

The Wolf pressed him on the issue and the defense lawyer had to admit that he had placed his client’s signature on the response, without consent. The Wolf called this a “forgery” and has told the Court the defense lawyer committed a form of “fraud.”

This, coupled with the pending sanctions order that might be issued againt the lawyer has resulted in the Wolf asking the Court not to let the defense lawyer out of the case!

In the Wolf’s view the lawyer must pay the sanctions, rectify the issue with the “forged” signature and assure the defendant obtains new counsel before the attorney should be permitted to withdraw.

The defense counsel apparently owned up to at least some of the issue here stating:

“I realize that I made a mistake when I affixed Mr. Jaguines’ signature without further specific authorization from him to do so.”

Eesh.

Sooooo not good.

As I have said before, your choice of defense counsel matters folks (although in this situation seems like the client bailed on the lawyer and not vice versa.)

Hope to see everyone at Law Conference of Champions in July!

Chat soon.

 

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Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

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