In December 2022, before much was known about how Houston’s McClenny Moseley & Associates could set up shop in New Orleans—and sign up thousands of Louisiana clients in less than a year—a district court judge shared strong words with the law firm’s managing attorney.
Executive Summary
"The story is not really about MMA. It's about what is the extent of investment in illegal schemes to sign up clients in all lines of business."That's how one insurance lawyer described the saga of the rise and fall of McClenny Moseley & Associates, which has created a hurricane of litigation stemming from the 3,267 hurricane-damage lawsuits that MMA filed in Louisiana federal courts—many against the wrong insurance company or seeking damages for already-settled claims. Those misdeeds have spawned another wave of litigation involving litigation finance investors, mortgage companies, damage estimators and property owners, reports Jim Sams, who has been following the twists and turns in the MMA story in dozens of articles for CM's sister publication, Claims Journal, for over two years.
“What I’m trying to get you to understand is you have dumped a mess on this court,” U.S. District Court Judge James D. Cain told R. William Huye, who had opened MMA’s New Orleans office in 2021.
Cain and other Louisiana judges are still trying to clean up that mess.
The 3,267 hurricane-damage lawsuits that MMA filed in Louisiana federal courts forced another wave of litigation—one that spawned lawsuits in both Louisiana and Texas that involve litigation finance investors, mortgage companies, damage estimators and property owners.
Investors, who reportedly loaned the law firm $30 million, sued to get their money back. MMA sued 20 mortgage companies that refused to endorse $20 million in insurer settlement checks. Law firms that took over MMA’s cases filed lawsuits to keep MMA from interfering with their work. Property owners sued because MMA’s lawyers told insurers that it represented them and filed lawsuits on behalf of “clients” they had never met.
