Legal Bill Battle Heats Up Over $1.7M Texas Arrest Settlement
Two brothers who contend the Texas lawyer who won them a $1.7 million settlement in a wrongful arrest case is overcharging them have taken the bill battle to the next level.
After suing their former attorney, Lloyd Kelley, earlier this month, Erik and Sean Ibarra have complained to the state bar that Kelley overcharged them and are seeking documentation of all the charges for which he billed them, reports the Houston Chronicle.
The wrongful arrest case attracted considerable media attention after discovery brought to light romantic, pornographic and racist e-mails from former Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal that eventually led to his resignation.
Kelley has refunded the Ibarras $115,000 in disputed charges, but the two say he shouldn’t have withheld the money from them in the first place, the newspaper writes. The bulk of his attorney fees apparently were paid by the Harris County defendants who lost the federal civil rights case he brought on the brothers’ behalf, but the judge disallowed some of Kelley’s expenses, which he then sought from the Ibarras.
“With Sorrels at their side, the brothers are likely to be taken seriously,” the Chronicle notes, referring to the Ibarras’ lawyer in the bill battle, Randy Sorrels. “Sorrels is former president of the Houston Bar and is on the board of the State Bar of Texas.”
In response to the original lawsuit, Kelley said “I expect to be reimbursed, and I’m entitled to be paid from their settlement,” as discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post.
“When you’re getting $1.7 million for one night in jail, and one [brother] had two nights in jail, [that] is phenomenal,” he told the Chronicle shortly after the suit was filed. “They didn’t pay one dime over the last six years, and they don’t want me to get reimbursed for those expenses. That is ingratitude.”
Related earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “$4.4M Legal Fees Sought in Texas Case that Brought Down DA”
ABAJournal.com: “$1.7M Settlement in Case That Exposed DA’s E-Mail”
Click2Houston.com: “District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal Resigns”
