Gandy v. Williamson

634 S.W.3d 214

Alice Marie GANDY, Advantage Tax & Printing Services, Incorporated, Alicia Annette Parks, Alisa Watts, Allen Ray Wilson, Alvin Scales, Andrea Barabino, Angela Sykes, Anthony Dillon, April Dent, Augustine Aaron, Augustus A. Mitchell, Aurura Chapman, Benny Lee Chanek, Betty Board, Billy Jefferson, Bobbie Spencer, Bobby Lee Phillips, Branch of Righteousness Fellowship Church, Brenda J. Darden, Brian Anthony Brown, C & T Fast Stop, Incorporated, Carlean Skinner, Carlos Corbitt, Cecil Odom, Jr., Charlene Toney, Charles Andrew Monroe, Charles Edward Brown, Charlie Scales, Dr. Charlotte Keys, Chester Ray Fawley, Christopher Daniel Goldsberry, Clarence Joseph McNeal, Cliff Taylor, Craig Antonio Harwell, Curtis Stallworth, Daisy Odom, Danee Raquel Aikens, Daniel C. Arrington, Dexter Trotter, Dianne Taylor, Doris Holder, Dots Play and Learn Childcare, LLC, Dwayne Kelvin Blackwell, Edward Earl Thurmond, Edward Gray, Edward Kirksey, Edward Michael Smith, Eichelberger Construction, LLC, Elizabeth S. Dennis, Emma Jackson, Eric Leonard Hayes, Ernest Ford, Jr., Ernest Rueland Fernandez, Jr., Ervin T. Marshall, Jr., Eugene Pajeaud, Felicia London, Frederick Eugene Wallace, Fred Riley, Gail Ward, Gilron Travis, Gloria Dean Sipp, Gregory Williams, Henrietta W. Thompson, Herbert Walker, Imad Jaber, James Cessna, Jeannie Ferrell, Jeffery Shanks, Jennifer Howard, John Calhoun Stewart, John Mark O'Neal, Johnny Ledbetter, Jr., Johnny R. Ratliff, Josephine Beatrice Cameron Rhodes, Julian John Richard, Kathleen Smith, Kattie Coffey Partee, Keith Rogers, Lashourn Whitt, Lashunda Thomas f/k/a Lashunda Mosely, Ladell Mason, Larry Green, Lashanderick McCalpine, Latricia McCarty, Lekarita Alleyne, Lennie Louis Valentine, Lester Fairley, Lillie Ruth McNair, Linda Morton, Lonnie Barry Meeks, Sr., Marion Brokmeier, Mary Dawson Williams, Maxine McCants, Melissa Wallis, Melvin Fields, Michael Manson McNair, Odessa Williams, Ozell Farmer, Pamela Denise Shanks, Patrick Edmond, Patrick Gibson, Patsy Dillon Robins, Phillip Bush, Phillip Waldron, Ray Johnson, Robert Earl Phillips, Robert Sykes, Jr., Romaro Demane Moore, Ronald J. Barabino, Sr., Ronald O. Cotton, Rosemary Thompson Bethea, Rosemary Hunt, Roshaunda Shanette Walley, Russell Brokmeier, Sanquanett Allen, Shquita Smith, Sonya Edmond, Sonya Stallworth, Susan Kochan, Susan Marie Lewis, Terry Tyrone Square, This & That Remodeling & Construction, LLC, Tijuana Lesha Chaney, Timothy James Watts, Timothy Wayne Gerald, Valerie Watkins, Vickie Carver, William Alvin Orcutt, Willie Keys, Willie Taylor, Willie Thomas, Wyatt Bernard McCarty, Yolanda Hunt Cooper, and Zenola Quinn, 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. 01-19-00335-CV

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

Opinion issued May 27, 2021

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

Lance Christopher Kassab, David Eric Kassab, Houston, for Appellants.

Patrick Yarborough, John Zavitsanos, Gregg S. Weinberg, Paul Harty Doyle, Houston, for Appellees Robert Williamson, Estate of Jimmy Glenn Williamson, Deceased Jimmy Williamson, P.C., Williamson & Rusnak, Cyndi Rusnak, and Cyndi Rusnak, PLLC.

Panel consists of Justices Hightower, Countiss, and Farris.

Julie Countiss, Justice

Appellants¹ —135 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 four issues, appellants contend that the trial court erred in granting appellees summary judgment.

We affirm.

Background³

On October 16, 2017, fifty-five appellants filed their original petition against appellees. On December 15, 2017, appellants filed their first amended petition, which added eighty more appellants to the suit.

In their first amended petition, appellants alleged that after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,⁴ 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."

In furtherance of 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 Walker and Seymour attorney-client contracts "to be used for signing up potential clients." Jimmy instructed Walker and Seymour to have potential clients sign blank attorney-contracts and then email the signed contracts to him.

The specifics of the barratry scheme were also discussed at the May 19, 2012 meeting between Michael, Jimmy, Walker, and Seymour. Michael and Jimmy explained that Jimmy would decide which groups of potential clients should be targeted, would decide the barratry scheme's marketing efforts, would provide marketing materials to use in soliciting potential clients, and would meet with and market himself, Jimmy Williamson, P.C., and Cyndi to potential clients with larger claims against BP. Jimmy stated that he would "handle the overhead expenses[,] including intake and staffing." (Internal quotations omitted.) As for Michael, he would handle Walker's and Seymour's compensation. And Cyndi would assist "with the intake of the [potential clients'] claims, review the claims, terminate any unsuitable claims, and ... generally handle the processing of the claims" through the BP settlement claim process. Cyndi also directed Walker to "go after [potential clients with] claims that would produce the highest legal fees" and "to market to [potential] clients in certain geographic locations." (Internal quotations omitted.)

On or about May 25, 2012, Michael's law firm, Law Office of Michael A. Pohl, PLLC, entered into an agreement with Walker, Seymour, and a third person, Terry Robinson, owner of Robinson Holdings, LLC. Under the agreement, Michael, on behalf of the barratry scheme, agreed to pay Walker, Seymour, and Robinson—all non-lawyers—thirty percent of the forty percent of attorney's fees he was to receive...