Hess Kennedy – Overlawyered

“Debt-Relief Firms Attract Complaints”

Walter Olson — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:11:53 +0000

The case of Hess Kennedy, repeatedly covered in this space, got attention in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month after “a Florida Circuit Court judge entered an order to wind down the firm and approved a process for consumers to apply to get their money back.” (Eleanor Laise, WSJ, Oct. 14). David Giacalone has a few links (Oct. 29, scroll), as well as a more extensive post.

Tags: Hess Kennedy, Laura Hess

“Debt-Relief Firms Attract Complaints” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Laura Hess suspended; Hess Kennedy in receivership

Ted Frank — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:18:02 +0000

Updating our previous story, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the Florida Bar has taken action against the law firm that may have ripped off millions of dollars from consumers.

State documents filed in Broward County Circuit Court claim that in 2006 and 2007 the law firm run by Laura Hess and an affiliated company managed by Edward Cherry paid $12 million to friends and relatives, and to businesses run by former employees or associates of Hess and Cherry.

In the meantime, the firm did not negotiate with clients’ creditors or review credit records as promised, resulting in some consumers being sued for their debts or having to file bankruptcy, records showed.

Hess Kennedy Chartered LLC and The Consumer Law Center collected “exorbitant” upfront fees, usually up to 15 percent of the client’s unsecured debt, according to the Florida Bar’s Tuesday filing with the Florida Supreme Court.

Tags: Florida, Hess Kennedy, Laura Hess, legal discipline

Laura Hess suspended; Hess Kennedy in receivership is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 24 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:07:30 +0000

Telemarketers working for lawyers and chiropractors “line up every day” at police and public records offices to buy car-crash records [Dallas Morning News]
Nice work if you can get it: Bernardine Dohrn’s terrorist-to-lawprof career track [Kass, Chapman @ Chicago Tribune, Ed Morrissey/HotAir, PoL, Horowitz/DtN, Daily Northwestern/FrontPage, Malkin, Power Line]
Mystery of embattled Florida debt-relief law firm Hess Kennedy (Mar. 6) deepens as whereabouts of lawyer Edward Kennedy are questioned [ABA Journal]
Criticism mounts of Calif. AG Jerry Brown’s lawsuits using global warming theories to force higher-density development [Stewart/LA Weekly, Walters/SacBee, via Kaus, scroll]
Kevin Pho (KevinMD.com) on defensive medicine [USA Today]
Colorado firm says lawsuit’s “settlement mill” allegations are concocted “by a competitor who doesn’t like (Azar’s) advertising.” [Colorado Springs Gazette]
Hey, you can rig up a disposable camera to give you a little shock; it might also give you a D felony record under school zero tolerance [WTNH via Greenfield]
One good thing about those anonymous snitchlines for domestic abuse, you don’t have to worry about bogus calls or anything like that [Colorado Springs Gazette on Texas polygamist raid backstory]
Lawyers get $2 million in fees in Netflix class action [WSJ law blog; earlier]
Supreme Court refuses cert on that very curious $112 million (originally $1 billion) land-contamination verdict from Louisiana [Exxon v. Grefer, Dow Jones/Fortune; CalPunitives link roundup; earlier; more background at Laura Hart/Louisiana Law Blog]
Cow-pie bingo event falls victim to liability fears [three years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: attorneys general, attorneys' fees, Bernardine Dohrn, chasing clients, class action settlements, Colorado, Dallas, defensive medicine, Exxon, global warming, Hess Kennedy, jackpot justice, Jerry Brown, Louisiana, punitive damages, regulation through litigation, roundups, zero tolerance

April 24 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

The Hess Kennedy “Legal Debt Center” scheme

Ted Frank — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:59:20 +0000

According to a lawsuit filed by Chase, two Coral Springs attorneys are scamming their clients by promising to eliminate their debts, and then diverting debt payments for legal fees to file meritless lawsuits challenging credit card debts. The attorneys general of Florida, North Carolina, and West Virginia are also involved, and the Florida bar has moved to suspend the license of Laura Hess. “Defendants’ ulterior goals are to extract fees from card members who should be paying the money to Chase to satisfy their debts and to maliciously harass Chase in an improper (albeit unsuccessful) attempt to coerce the elimination of their clients’ legitimate debts.” (Bud Newman, “Chase Bank Accuses Florida Law Firms of Running Debt-Relief Scam”, Daily Business Review, Mar. 6).

Update: See also Mar. 6 Business Week; on-line at the self-reported Rip-Off Report; and WATE (Tennessee), Apr. 2. “‘The programs typically require financially strapped consumers to pay fees up front, so they make money whether or not any useful services are performed,’ says Philip Lehman, an assistant attorney general in North Carolina.”

Tags: attorneys general, Hess Kennedy, Laura Hess, North Carolina, scandals, Tennessee, West Virginia

The Hess Kennedy “Legal Debt Center” scheme is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system