Texas Class Action Against Debt Relief Firms

[Prof]

From todays Texas Lawyer:

Debtors File Class Action Alleging Attorneys Conspired to Defraud
By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

Texas Lawyer

August 17, 2009

In a federal class-action suit filed on Aug. 6, the plaintiffs allege two Texas lawyers conspired with others to defraud debtors who sought help because of credit-card and unsecured debt and to "evade" Texas laws that regulate consumer debt management services, attorney-client solicitation and lawyer advertising.

"By masquerading as attorney referral services, unregulated debt negotiators and exempt attorneys, the defendants collaborate to evade strict state consumer protection regulations enacted to protect unknowing debtors," the plaintiffs allege in James R. Wall, et al. v. Debt Relief Group LLC, et al. , filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Plaintiffs' attorney Charles E. Ames of Carrollton says the plaintiffs did not get the debt relief they expected.

"They did not get debt relief, and they've been harmed because these people did not follow the requirements of the Texas statute" that regulates the debt-relief business, he says.

The two Texas lawyers named as defendants in the plaintiffs' original class-action complaint, Robert Ancel Palmer III and Scott R. Seideman, each did not return two telephone messages left at their offices.

The defendants also include Debt Relief Group LLC (DRG) of Irvine, Calif.; The Palmer Firm of Dallas and Irvine, Calif., and its registered agent in California, attorney Gregory M. Fitzgerald; The Seideman Law Firm of Dallas and Irvine, Calif.; Epic Financial Management of Irvine, Calif., and its registered agent Keith J. Waring; and Joan Kearns of Irving.

....

For the rest of the story, see http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX. ... 2433048566