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Texas Panel Clears Attys Of Barratry In Horizon Oil Spill Suit
Law360 (May 27, 2021, 6:37 PM EDT) A Texas appellate panel on Thursday affirmed a pair of rulings dismissing barratry claims suits against three Houston attorneys accused of unethically soliciting clients for litigation stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, finding the claims were filed too late.
In two similar opinions, totaling nearly 150 pages, a three-justice panel of the First Court of Appeals in Houston rejected arguments from more than 400 alleged or potential clients that their claims of barratry and civil conspiracy against solo practitioner Michael A. Pohl, Cyndi Rusnak of Williamson & Rusnak and the estate of now-deceased attorney Jimmy Williamson were improperly dismissed.
The First Court of Appeals issued opinions on two different cases with similar allegations.
The first case, Dezzie Brumfield et al vs. Robert Williamson et al, involves 272 plaintiffs, who appealed challenging a summary judgment win in favor of the following defendants: the Estate of Jimmy Glenn Williamson, Williamson & Rusnak, Cyndi Rusnak and the Law Office of Michael A. Pohl.
The plaintiffs allege that after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Williamson “concocted an illicit barratry scheme . . . by unlawfully soliciting thousands of potential clients to bring claims against” BP.
The second case involves 135 plaintiffs and contains similar allegations against the aforementioned defendants.