Fraud

Dallas Business Litigation Attorney Brad Jackson Named Among State’s Best

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Photo of attorney Brad Jackson sitting down while wearing glasses, a sports coat and a blue shirt with no tie.

DALLAS – Dallas attorney Brad Jackson of The Law Offices of Brad Jackson once again has been named one of the top lawyers for business disputes on the annual Texas Super Lawyers list published by Thomson Reuters.

The 2020 Super Lawyers list marks Mr. Jackson’s 17th consecutive selection among Texas’ leading business litigation attorneys. Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2005, Mr. Jackson was selected for this year’s list based on nominations from other lawyers and a thorough review process by Super Lawyers’ editors.

Additional Firm Honors

Since being named to last year’s Super Lawyers listing, Mr. Jackson earned his 10th straight listing in the Best Lawyers in Dallas list following recommendations from other attorneys and the editors of D Magazine. His selection was based on his work in business litigation, tort lawsuits, and product liability cases.

Earlier this year, Mr. Jackson and fellow firm attorney Cheryl Mann were named in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. The Law Offices of Brad Jackson additionally was named on the annual Best Law Firms list published by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers.

Extensive Expertise

Companies and individuals have called on The Law Offices of Brad Jackson for more than 30 years in a variety of business disputes and commercial litigation. The firm’s expertise includes extensive work involving contract disagreements, fiduciary litigation, denial of commercial insurance claims, probate and trust litigation, professional malpractice cases, serious personal injuries and wrongful death, and other areas.

Based in Dallas, The Law Offices of Brad Jackson provides decades of experience representing clients in Texas and across the nation. Brad Jackson is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm handles practically every type of business dispute, as well as cases involving high-stakes divorce litigation, serious personal injury, and wrongful death.

14 Dallas Gas Stations to Pay for Hurricane Harvey Price Gouging

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price gouging

Last year’s catastrophic Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain on the Houston area and claimed more than 80 lives. Many people stepped up to help their neighbors in the aftermath, but there were others who turned the community’s shared distress into a moneymaking enterprise through price gouging.

Immediately following the worst of the storm, both the Texas governor and attorney general warned businesses against price gouging. However, there were numerous reports of hurricane victims being charged ridiculous amounts for everything from bottled water to hotel rooms to gasoline.

The fears over supply shortages hit hard in Dallas, where hundreds of gas stations ran out of fuel and thousands of customers waited in line for hours.

Texas AG Files Price Gouging Claims

The AG’s office responded to reports of price gouging by asking those who believed they had been overcharged to provide copies of their receipts. In the months that followed, the AG filed a series of lawsuits and issued more than 125 notices of violations.

Now, several of those businesses have agreed to a legal settlement that includes more than $160,000 in refunds for customers. According to published reports, 48 Texas gas stations signed off on the agreement, including 14 in Dallas. Overall, 42 of the stations are in North Texas.

The AG says all the stations in the settlement charged gas prices of at least $3.99 per gallon after Harvey. Some stations reportedly charged as much as $8.99 per gallon. Gas prices in Texas averaged roughly $2.20 per gallon at the time.

The two biggest payouts reportedly are coming from the Old Town Store in Garland, which agreed to refund $14,870, and Bob’s Exxon in Dallas, which will pay $12,000. In an odd twist, the Old Town Store recently was in the news for selling a $1 million winning scratch-off lottery ticket. Based on the Texas Lottery’s bonus program, that means the owners of Old Town are in line for a $10,000 bonus, which should help offset their settlement payment.

Protecting Clients’ Money

Although the legal actions above were filed by the state, the facts are not that different from what I regularly see in cases involving fiduciary litigation and business disputes.

The gas stations that agreed to the price gouging settlement saw an opportunity to grab some extra cash and thought they could get away with it. Fortunately, the state was there to help.

At the Law Offices of Brad Jackson, we have spent decades helping individuals and companies who similarly have been ripped off through no fault of their own. The unfortunate truth is that there are people in all walks of life who are looking for the chance to line their pockets even if it means violating the law. That’s why we are here to protect clients’ interests and make sure that responsible parties are held accountable under the law.

Law Offices of Brad Jackson Helps Clients Defeat $3 Million Lawsuit

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lawsuit

Our team recently obtained a great result for a group of seller and business broker clients in a lawsuit over the sale of an insurance agency. Our clients were facing nearly $3 million in damages after being accused of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and other claims.

This case provides a good example of our work in business disputes and fiduciary litigation, as well as our representation of local and out-of-state clients.

The lawsuit was filed by Frisco, Texas-based CLA USA Property and Casualty Group against our clients from Dallas-based CapRock Services, which provides financing for small businesses, and Sarasota, Florida-based General Insurance Brokerage, LLC, which specializes in brokering the sale of insurance agencies.

Business Lawsuit Background

The dispute arose after General Insurance Brokerage identified Irving, Texas-based Innovative National Risk, LLC, as a potential CLA acquisition target. CLA bought the company from CapRock in 2014.

Shortly after the sale, CLA claimed, among other things, that Innovate National Risk’s operations failed to comply with state and federal laws. CLA argued that it was left holding the bag, accusing our clients of conspiring to make the sale happen so that CapRock could divest itself of the insurance agency and General Insurance Brokerage could collect commission payments.

How We Won

We were brought into the case late to represent CapRock and General Insurance Brokerage, which previously had been defended by separate lawyers.

Together, Brad Jackson and Cheryl Mann began an aggressive defense that resulted in the court striking the testimony of CLA’s expert witnesses, including an attorney, an actuary and a certified fraud examiner. We also convinced the court to enforce a jury trial waiver because we believed that our defense of CLA’s complicated and convoluted claims would be best understood by an experienced trial judge.

By the third day of trial before the Honorable Tonya Parker of the 116th Judicial District Court of Dallas County, we had clearly proven that General Insurance Brokerage, CapRock, and their principals, who CLA had sued personally as well, had done nothing wrong. That same day, CLA voluntarily dismissed all its claims and agreed to pay $200,000 to our client CapRock.

Cases like these are why we come to work every day. Our clients had their backs against the wall, facing millions of dollars in potential damages. We were able to devise an aggressive and effective defense that resulted in the complete vindication of our clients.

Behind Dallas Appeals Court’s $288 Million Ruling Against Credit Suisse

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appeals court, dallas, ruling

A verdict of nearly $40 million issued four years ago in Dallas recently was affirmed as a $288 million judgment against Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse. Of course, as with most legal appeals, the story continues.

The case over a failed Las Vegas real estate deal ended its current local run with the recent 35-page ruling authored by Justice Elizabeth Lang-Miers of the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas.

The next stop apparently will be in Austin at the Supreme Court of Texas since Credit Suisse almost immediately announced its intention to appeal.

Failed Deal Leads to Vegas-sized Judgment

The ruling addresses Credit Suisse’s failed attempt to void the original 2014 verdict and eventual judgment in favor of the Dallas investment firm Highland Capital Management. Jurors awarded $40 million against Credit Suisse after finding the company duped Highland into investing $250 million to help refinance a Las Vegas resort.

When Lake Las Vegas went belly up as part of the 2008 financial crisis, Highland sued based on allegations that Credit Suisse knowingly manipulated the property’s perceived value by relying on a faulty appraisal, among other claims.

Even though the state district jury in Dallas agreed with Highland, the case continued to go through additional legal wrangling. The trial court eventually approved the verdict amount and signed a 2015 judgment for more than $288 million after ruling that Highland was owed additional damages beyond the $40 million jury award.

Why Appeals Cases Take So Long

With a jury verdict, court judgment and favorable appeals court ruling, some might think Highland is about to pocket a hefty chunk of change. Not so fast. In the land of appeals, as this case perfectly illustrates, the devil is in the details.

In every Texas case when a trial court enters a judgment where money is awarded, the losing party can post a court-approved supersedeas bond or cash deposit to cover the amount.

By doing so, companies such as Credit Suisse can prevent winning parties like Highland from enforcing a judgment while the case is on appeal. Like a lot of big companies, Credit Suisse can find $288 million between its couch cushions, which is one of the many reasons why appeals can take so long to resolve.

Now that Credit Suisse has announced its intention to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, and since it can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in the event of an adverse ruling, it may be years before this legal saga reaches its eventual end.

Although the legal profession strives to uphold the idea that “justice delayed is justice denied,” the truth is that any court case can be delayed if one or more parties have the financial wherewithal and internal fortitude to continue the fight through appeals. Eventually, it’s up to our courts to decide the justice part.

 

Cryptocurrency Craze Leads to Fraud Charges in Dallas

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Photo by David McBee from Pexels https://www.pexels.com/photo/bitcoins-and-u-s-dollar-bills-730547/

Most of us have seen news reports about the ongoing cryptocurrency craze, including the skyrocketing and plummeting prices for Bitcoin and other electronic currencies. Now, some cryptocurrency companies are facing federal investigators based on allegations of fraud

The latest news comes from Dallas, where a cryptocurrency bank founded less than a year ago has been charged along with its owners of fraud and other alleged wrongdoing. Launched in March 2017, AriseBank claimed to have raised $600 million in the past two months in an initial coin offering (ICO) for its AriseCoins. Such sales are like an initial public offering (IPO) of stock options.

The bank said it had “one of the largest crypto-currency platforms ever built.” But the Fort Worth Regional Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says the bank was nothing more than an “outright scam.” The government says the company misled investors and sold unregistered securities under fraudulent terms.

After falsely claiming that it had purchased an FDIC-insured bank, AriseBank failed to tell investors that its co-founders have prior felony criminal convictions, according to the SEC.

Now, a Dallas federal judge has appointed a receiver to figure out how much of investors’ money, if any, remains.

It’s not hard to imagine that lawsuits from investors will soon follow, although collecting any judgment against AriseBank is now in doubt since the bank has been put under the government’s control and no one appears to yet know if any assets remain.

Investment Scams Nothing New

The trail of investment scams extends nearly as long as investing itself. That is why the cryptocurrency frenzy should send up a warning flare for many of today’s investors. For every quality investment opportunity, there are many more scams nearby.

One notable example came in 1986, when a California teenager formed ZZZZ Best Inc. and claimed the company was the “General Motors of carpet cleaning.” After the company sold millions in stock options, federal investigators discovered that ZZZZ Best was little more than a series of phony documents and sales receipts. In the end, investors lost more than $100 million and the company’s founder was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Perhaps the greatest investment scam in history is rooted in Texas with the fall of energy giant Enron in 2001. Houston-based Enron was ranked as the seventh-largest company in the world. Unfortunately, the company was hiding billions of dollars in debt through a series of accounting transactions that relied on shell companies to conceal dire financial circumstances. In addition to resulting in the collapse of the global accounting firm Arthur Andersen, the fall of Enron caused billions of dollars in losses for investors and employees. More than 4,000 employees were let go after the company filed for bankruptcy protection.

AriseBank Lessons

The AriseBank story should serve as an important lesson for everyone. That’s especially true for those of us who are only mildly familiar with the ins and outs of the investing process. There are seemingly countless state and federal laws covering proper investment protocols and the sale and purchase of securities. Few “regular” investors know all the rules.

No matter how many TV commercials make it look easy to handle your own investment decisions, the truth is that investing is complicated business. Just because you have been successful enough to accumulate enough money to invest on your own doesn’t mean that you’ll enjoy the same success when it comes to finding the right investment opportunity.

That is why it is so important to have a trusted financial advisor and knowledgeable attorney involved if you’re thinking about plunking down your hard-earned cash in hopes of realizing positive returns in the future. Failing to do so could put you in the same position as the investors who backed AriseBank and are now waiting to see if the government can help them reclaim their money.