This is an update to my original post about Legal Justice Advocates, New Kids. My thanks to Stephen McWilliam of Florida State Mortgage Group, Inc. for helping me keep up to date.
First, it appears that an entity called Equal Access Action Network, Inc. filed a number of small claims cases in Miami against various companies on August 30 of last year; that is, a few months before Legal Justice Advocates began its demand letter scheme. They were filed by Yvette Harrell as an attorney for Legal Justice Associates. Like Victims Awareness, Inc. the Equal Access Action Network, Inc. is a recently created Delaware corporation. It was incorporated by a service that conceals the identity of the real incorporators and has no website that I can find but does seem to have a Twitter account, though one without much in the way of tweets. EAAN has filed some lawsuits but it isn’t clear how effectively they are being pursued. Cases against Ace Hardware and Pet Supermarket were dismissed for EAAN’s failure to meet court deadlines. A case against Steinmart filed in federal court was dismissed with prejudice, which usually signals a settlement of some kind. EAAN seems to associated with Anneth Lezcano, a serial filer of ADA lawsuits, and Jack Kang, who is in the same business. Each of them has also filed lawsuits without EAAN using other lawyers associated with Legal Justice Advocates. It is a fairly far ranging enterprise, though the total number of lawsuits filed is rather small in comparison to other serial filers.
Second, a complaint has been filed with the Florida State Bar against Jerome Ramsaran, the attorney who seems to have taken over from Harrell after the Florida Bar began investigating her. I do not know the status of that complaint.
Finally, the sending of demand letters continues, with an increasing number sent to businesses in states other than Florida and Texas it appears. I still have not found any lawsuits filed on behalf of Victims Awareness, Inc. in the federal courts.
On January 28, 2020 HUD issued its “Guidance on Reasonable Accommodations under the Fair Housing Act Relating to Assistance Animals.”† Over the course of 19 poorly written and poorly organized pages HUD provides one crumb of help for housing providers faced with bogus requests for emotional support animals. The bulk of the “Guidance” is a confused repetition of various earlier HUD positions that defy common sense and the law.
Just a quick note about some upcoming CLE opportunities, not all of them accessibility oriented. If you are wondering about the photo at left, it’s for something a little different. I’ll be presenting a one-hour webinar “Write Your Brief Like a Country Song: The Universal Rules of Effective Communication” for the University of Texas CLE program on January 24. You can find all the details at this link: “
Christmas is over with lumps of coal and sugar plums distributed in ways that often seem unrelated to who has been naughty or nice. Regular readers will see just how little has changed in the course of 2019 despite some important defense victories in the Sixth and Eight Circuits. With most ADA litigation centered in New York, California and Florida the serial litigation business will almost certainly continue to thrive in 2020.
Once upon a time lawyers marketed their services by sitting in private clubs drinking martinis. These days a more public approach is required, so I’m letting my subscribers know I was interviewed earlier this week by thewirecutter.com, a New York Times publication that reviews all kinds of products. I was asked about handicap accessible trashcans, a subject that I’ve never seen a lawsuit about. If you’re interested I’m sure the interview will be online soon. For what it is worth the arguments for requiring accessible trashcans under Titles II and III of the ADA are pretty weak, but if you doesn’t want paper towels on the floor in the public restrooms they would seem to be a good idea.