Brumfield v. Williamson

634 S.W.3d 170

Dezzie BRUMFIELD, Joe Adamo, Julia Adams, Nancy Allen, Andrew Anderson, Beverly Anderson, Onyema Anozie, Whitley Arrington, Sharon Bacon, Kolawole Bakare, Lonnie C. Ball, Elijah Banks, Mark Bass, Keith Bateaste, Chris Bermond, Sr., Michelle Bolotte, Benjamin Booth, Sonya Bourne, Rosie Boyd, Travis Broussard, Andre Brown, Andrew Brown, Annie Brown, Calvin Brown, Macarthur Brown, Raquel Brown, Rickey Brown, Saul Brown, Terrence Brown, Edward Brumfield, Alvin Burden, Clifton Burns, Ronald Bush, Oralee Cabarris, Ronnie Cage, Deloris Cannon, Ernestine Cannon, Deborah Cartee, Pamela Causey, Leroy Cayette, Michael Cayette, Tim Chambliss, Betty Chapman, Gwendolyn Chapman, Hazel Chasez, Larry Chesser, Cedric Childress, Alethea Clark, Kathy Clay, Gloria Clemons, Robert Cloonan, Larry Cobb, Roderick Cobb, Anthony Cola, Mark Coleman, Alice Conerly Harmon, George Crenshaw, William Cullen, Nizar Dahab, Mary Dailey, King Dase, Cleoptha Davis, George R. Davis, Juanita Davis, Ricky Davis, Joseph Dazzio, Calvin Dee, Francisco Dejean, Sarah Dillon, Matthew Dixon, Thom Do, Janice Dozier, Timmercer Dukes, Tony Edmond, Vanessa Edmond, Lavern England on Behalf of the Estate of Major England, Elaine Erkard, John Evans, Sydney Evans, Lee Felton, Reginald Finklea, Louis Fisher, Woodley Fisher, Vernell Fleming, Paul Flowers, Timothy Flynn, Frederick Fountain, Martha Fountain, James Franklin, Otis Fryer, Frederick Gaines, Daniel Garner, Sr., Kimberly Gholar, Emma Giron, Arthur Glover, Natasha Glover, Fermin Gomez, Flora Goodloe, Eddie Gray, Jr., Norma Green, Marilyn Gregory, Brad Haas, Deborah Haas, Claude Hamilton, Angel Harris, Frederick Henry, Dean Hicks, John Hicks, Jr., Kathy Hill, Jerry Hinton, Gary Howard, William Hugger, Harry Jackson, Maylene Jackson, Genetter January, Soyan Jemison, Clifford Johnson, Robert Johnson, Jr., Jeff Jolet, Eldora Jones, Jerry Jones, Mary Jones, Tommy Jones, Calvin Keys, Charles N. King, Eric King, Kelly King, Lee King, Percy Knight, Robert Knox, Tami Kruk, Charlean Lacy, Weston Ladner, Frederick Lane, John Lavergne, Elizabeth Ann Lee, Felix Lee, Jerry Lee, Palmetta Lee, James Lenoir, Antonio Leonard, Odell Leverette, Anita Lindsey Bush, Devin Lloyd, William Logan, Jimmy Lowe, Fleshia Magee, Arthur Malveaux, Bambi Marchetti, Vanessa Marks, Alan Marsaw, Jerry Marshall, Claudio A. Mateo, Ethel May-Harwell, Katrina McBride, Sandra McGowan Gipson, Yancy McGuffery, Natasha McIntyre, Janice McKinnis, Shamecka McNeal, Michael Meltz, Allen Merritt, Liza Mgee, Jeanette Mitchell, Maurice Morgan, Sherry Morgan, Eddie Morris, Gregory Morris, Alma Myers, Annie Nelson, Maggie Newsome, Nga Nguyen, Raymond Nguyen, Adam Nichols, Edward Norfolk, Mary Norton, Jack O'Neal, John E. Owens, John Owens, Jr., Jennifer Parham, Dennis Parker, Claire Patterson, David Payne, Kenneth Pearson, Brad Perry, Robert Perry, Tyrone Perry, Ray Perryman, John Pimentel, Emmils Pollard, Sr., Ben Porter, Rodric Powe, Shelton Powe, Shirley Pree, Willie Pree, Gwendolyn Purvis, Laurie Quin, Evangeline Ramirey, John Randazzo, III, John Randazzo, Jr., Isaac Rankin, Lena Ratcliff, John W. Richard, Allen Ricouard, Wilber Riggs, Mark Ripin, Allie Robinson, Angela Robinson, Arthur Robinson, Sr., Johnny Robinson, Stacy Robinson, Virginia Robinson, Clevand Rogers, Jonathan Rogers, Thaddeus Sanders, Jr., Lory Sandolph, Andria Sawyers, Eldridge Scott, Ronnie Shack, James Shaw, Jr., Saleh Shehadeh, Tommie Shinall, Terry Simpson, Deborah Sinclair, Leslie Slade, Lawanda Smiley, Belinda Smith, Jimmy Smith, Rodney Smith, William Smith, Yvette Smith, Brenda Smothers, Sheila Sullivan, Bettie Taylor, Darren Taylor, Sharon Taylor, Jimmie Teacher, Madison Terry, Arthur Thompson, Jr., Alton Tillis, Charles Tims, Terri Torries, Frank Triplett, David Tubbs, Parrish Turnage, David Turner, Jr., Gloria Valley, Alvin Walker, James Walker, Ruthie Walker, Delmonica Washington, Ronnie Washington, Arthur Weatherspoon, Roy Weatherspoon, Darryl White, Grayson White, Shequitta White, Darren Wiggins, Cedric Wiley, Lessie Wilkerson, Dorothy Williams, Gloria Williams, Jeremy Williams, Telford Williams, Marsha Williamson, Orlando Willingham, Otis Winston, Therrin Woods, Vance Woods, Warren Wright, Carol Yates, and Cyrus Young, Appellants

v.Robert WILLIAMSON, as Independent Executor of the Estate of Jimmy Glenn Williamson, Deceased, the Estate of Jimmy Glenn Williamson, Deceased, Jimmy Williamson, P.C., Williamson & Rusnak, Cyndi Rusnak, Cyndi Rusnak, PLLC, Michael A. Pohl, Law Office of Michael A. Pohl, PLLC, Appellees

NO. 01-19-00336-CV

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).

Opinion issued May 27, 2021

Lance Christopher Kassab, David Eric Kassab, Kevin H. Dubose, Houston, for Appellants.

Gregg S. Weinberg, Paul Harty Doyle, John Zavitsanos, Patrick Yarborough, Caitlin Booker, Houston, for Appellees Jimmy Williamson, Jimmy Williamson, PC, Williamson & Rusnak, Cyndi Rusnak, Cyndi Rusnak, PLLC.

Allison Standish Miller, Kyle Lawrence, Billy Shepherd, Stephen Robert Bailey, Houston, for Appellees Law Offices of Michael Pohl.

Panel consists of Justices Hightower, Countiss, and Farris.

Julie Countiss, Justice

Appellants¹ —272 individuals—challenge the trial court's rendition of summary judgment in favor of appellees, Robert Williamson, as independent executor of the Estate of Jimmy Glenn Williamson, deceased, the Estate of Jimmy Glenn Williamson, deceased, Jimmy Williamson, P.C., Williamson & Rusnak, Cyndi Rusnak ("Cyndi"), Cyndi Rusnak, PLLC, Michael A. Pohl ("Michael"), and Law Office of Michael A. Pohl, PLLC (collectively, "appellees"), in appellants' suit against appellees for civil barratry,² civil conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and breach of fiduciary duty. In six issues, appellants contend that the trial court erred in granting appellees summary judgment, declining to reconsider its summary-judgment rulings as to certain appellants, denying appellants' motion for leave to file their fourth amended petition, and striking appellants' fourth amended petition.

We affirm in part and dismiss in part.

Background³

On June 8, 2017, Dezzie Brumfield filed his original petition against appellees.⁴ On July 26, 2017, appellants filed their first amended petition, which added 271 appellants more to the suit.

In their first amended petition, appellants alleged that after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,⁵ Jimmy Glenn Williamson ("Jimmy"), a Texas lawyer, individually and through his law firm, Jimmy Williamson, P.C., "concocted an illicit barratry scheme ... by unlawfully soliciting thousands of potential clients to bring claims against" BP related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Jimmy engaged his law partner Cyndi, another Texas lawyer, and her law firm, Cyndi Rusnak, PLLC, to help him with the barratry scheme, and, together, Jimmy and Cyndi created a general partnership, Williamson & Rusnak, to practice law. Jimmy and Cyndi also engaged a third Texas lawyer, Michael, and his law firm, Law Office of Michael A. Pohl, PLLC, to aid in the barratry scheme. Together they formed a "barratry joint venture," with each of them agreeing to "split the profits from any fruits of the barratry joint venture with 40% of any attorney's fees derived from the [Deepwater Horizon] litigation going to [Michael] and 60% going to" Jimmy and Cyndi. Jimmy and Cyndi "agreed to split their 60% of the fees according to the amount of resources each put into the cases after [potential clients] had been improperly solicited."

To advance the barratry scheme, in April 2012, Michael met with Scott Walker, who provided consulting, public relations, and marketing services to several Mississippi companies. Michael told Walker that he and Jimmy sought to obtain potential clients affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, with a goal of representing 100 Mississippi companies in their claims against BP. Michael conveyed to Walker that he and Jimmy wanted to hire Walker to "provide services to solicit [potential] clients" with claims against BP related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Michael told Walker that Jimmy "had worked to secure a 7.8 billion dollar settlement [agreement] with BP," but Jimmy did not have a lot of clients to participate in the settlement agreement.

A few days after the meeting between Michael and Walker, Jimmy met with Walker and told him that "BP had structured [a] settlement [agreement] to include the whole [S]tate of Mississippi and ... there were literally thousands of businesses and individuals who could be targeted for solicitation" to become clients. Because Michael and Jimmy wanted to hire an additional person "with government contacts," "who could obtain governmental entities to file" claims against BP, Walker introduced Michael and Jimmy to Steve Seymour, who was employed by Diamond Consulting and who was "a public official in Hancock County, Mississippi." When Michael and Jimmy met with Seymour, they told him that they were trying to get potential clients in Mississippi with claims against BP related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Jimmy was the "absolute best lawyer in the field in handling [Deepwater Horizon] oil spill claims." (Internal quotations omitted.)

On or about May 19, 2012, Michael and Jimmy met with Walker and Seymour, and Jimmy "brought a stack of double sided, color flyers promoting the [legal] services of" Jimmy and Michael. Jimmy and Michael told Walker and Seymour to "use the flyers in their sales pitches to potential clients in an effort to sell [clients] on hiring" Jimmy, Michael, and Cyndi for their claims against BP. Jimmy and Michael instructed Walker and Seymour to call their friends and acquaintances "to try to get them to hire" Jimmy, Michael, and Cyndi for their claims related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and also "to make cold calls on people and businesses they didn't know." Jimmy told Walker and Seymour that he also had a PowerPoint presentation "to be used to ‘seal the deal’ on potential clients that were hesitant," and Jimmy gave...