fact_id,filing_id,fact
1,1,Pohl is a lawyer who represented persons in motor vehicle accident claims and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill claims
2,1,"Precision Marketing Group, LLC provided public relations, evidence gathering, and client liaison services for Pohl"
3,1,"Precision gained access to confidential information about up to 10,000 or more of Pohl's clients/prospective clients"
4,1,"The confidential information included client identities, contact information, fee agreements, specialized legal forms, proprietary administrative forms, internal emails, and marketing information"
5,1,"A prior federal lawsuit (Scott Walker, et al. v. Jimmy Williamson, et al., No. 1:14-cv-381-KS-JCG) was resolved by the Confidential Settlement Agreement in late April/early May 2017"
6,1,The Settlement Agreement required return of all documents concerning Pohl's clients and deletion of all ESI
7,1,Nicholson served dual roles: counsel for Favre/Precision in the settlement and co-counsel with Kassab/Montague in claims against Pohl
8,1,"Favre and others stole physical copies, Pohl's computers, and misappropriated electronic data"
9,1,"Favre secretly sold the stolen information to Kassab and Montague for $250,000 in cash plus substantial bonuses"
10,1,Kassab and Montague knew the information was stolen
11,1,Kassab used the stolen information to solicit Pohl's clients and bring barratry and other cases against Pohl
12,1,Kassab specializes in suing other lawyers and has worked with Montague in this connection in the past
13,1,Pohl timely and fully performed the Settlement Agreement
14,1,"Filing attorney: Jean C. Frizzell, Reynolds Frizzell LLP, Houston, Texas"
15,2,"Lance Christopher Kassab is a lawyer practicing plaintiffs' legal malpractice law in Houston, Texas through Kassab, P.C."
16,2,Michael A. Pohl is described as an individual lawyer residing in Colorado
17,2,Kassab filed four lawsuits on behalf of over 400 clients against Pohl in four different courts in Harris County
18,2,"The main allegations against Pohl are civil barratry and conspiracy to commit barratry, a third-degree felony in Texas"
19,2,"Pohl conspired with his wife Donalda Pohl ('Dona'), paralegal Edgar Jaimes, and three Mississippi runners (Walker, Seymour, Ladner)"
20,2,"Dona owns Helping Hands Financing, LLC ('HH Texas'); Jaimes runs its day-to-day operations"
21,2,"Walker, Seymour, and Ladner owned Precision Marketing Group, Helping Hands Group, and Helping Hands Financial"
22,2,"For BP claims, runners went door-to-door soliciting; Precision paid runners $300-$400 per client; Pohl paid Precision up to $1,500 per client"
23,2,"Pohl offered runners a percentage of legal fees disguised as $1,500/hour rate"
24,2,"For auto accidents, Pohl monitored Google Alerts for crashes and dispatched runners to hospitals, homes, and funerals"
25,2,"For auto accidents, Pohl paid runners up to $7,500 per client plus 33% of attorney's fees on the back end"
26,2,"HH Texas paid HH Mississippi $2,500 per referral as an additional layer between Pohl and runners"
27,2,Helping Hands offered money to victims conditioned on signing contracts allowing attorney selection (always Pohl)
28,2,Pohl created the 'GM Settlement Verification Team' to impersonate a GM entity and solicit ignition recall victims
29,2,"Over $5 million in 'barratry pass-through money' paid to Walker, Ladner, and Precision"
30,2,"Magdalena Santana was paid $5,000 per case plus fee percentage; was told minorities 'were easier to sign up'"
31,2,"Pohl paid Santana $50,000 cash in 'trick or treat' bags to sign gag agreement; Santana felt 'under duress'"
32,2,"Kenneth Talley solicited 800+ BP claims and 20+ auto accident cases; paid $1,400 plus expenses per auto case"
33,2,Talley carried blank Pohl contracts; both he and Pohl knew solicitation was illegal
34,2,Walker was indicted and imprisoned; Pohl then refused to pay runners promised fees
35,2,Walker and others filed federal suit in Mississippi (Federal Litigation) against Pohl claiming millions in promised fees
36,2,Over 400 solicited clients contacted Kassab and requested representation against Pohl
37,2,Kassab filed grievances against Pohl with the Texas State Bar pursuant to Rule 8.03
38,2,"Kassab has 150 assigned barratry claims as of filing date with remaining claims to be filed by November 7, 2018"
39,2,Attorneys for Kassab: Lance Christopher Kassab (Bar No. 00794070) and David Eric Kassab (Bar No. 24071351)
40,3,"Pohl was introduced to Walker, Maxwell, Robinson, and Seymour in April 2012 and Ladner approximately six to eight weeks later"
41,3,Robinson's father-in-law was described as a prominent local attorney who advised the PR Consultants' group
42,3,"Robinson withdrew July 15, 2012; remaining group (Walker, Seymour, Ladner) became 'PR Consultants'"
43,3,Pohl initially contracted with Maxwell-Walker for exclusive public relations and client liaison services for BP claims
44,3,Contracts provided for hourly fees and retainer capped at 21% of LOMAP's 40% interest in BP representation
45,3,Precision Marketing Group succeeded Maxwell-Walker in January 2013
46,3,PR Consultants were supposed to provide exclusive services to Pohl but secretly diverted hundreds of claimants to competing attorneys
47,3,"PR Consultants were primarily supposed to run information booths at public events (boat shows, festivals) and answer follow-up calls"
48,3,PR Consultants sent falsified invoices with PAID stamps predating preparation dates; systematically overcharged Pohl
49,3,"PR Consultants charged up to $1,000/week in fictitious 'miscellaneous marketing' expenses from approximately March 2013 through September 2013"
50,3,Walker admitted the 'miscellaneous marketing' charges were not truthful when confronted
51,3,PR Consultants marketed their services to competing attorneys while Pohl paid their overhead
52,3,"Ladner absconded with 17 containers of client files from Pohl's satellite office, later delivered to Favre"
53,3,PR Consultants and Nicholson refused to return four computers purchased by Pohl
54,3,Files were delivered to Favre without Pohl's consent; Favre purchased them despite being told they were stolen
55,3,It appears Kassab eventually purchased the stolen materials from Favre
56,3,"After BP activity halted in spring 2013, Pohl retained PR Consultants for rollover/auto defect cases"
57,3,Pohl closed his Mississippi satellite office in February 2014
58,3,Julia Porter and Monica Chaney operated an unauthorized website using Pohl's name; Pohl sent cease and desist letters
59,3,Jacqueline Taylor's statement suggests Porter/Chaney may have been associated with PR Consultants
60,3,Christopher Forrest appeared in May 2017 with a Pohl fee agreement — over 3 years after BP claims closed
61,3,"Pohl's 60/40 fee split with Williamson was consistent with Texas law, with flexibility based on actual contribution"
62,3,"In some instances, Pohl received no fee at all on a BP claim"
63,3,"Affidavit sworn June 19, 2018 in Montgomery County, Texas"
64,3,"In the Federal Court Lawsuit, PR Consultants alleged hourly-rate basis and denied entitlement to percentage of fees"
65,4,"F. Douglas Montague III is a nonresident individual from Hattiesburg, Mississippi"
66,4,"Montague Pittman & Varnado, P.A. is a nonresident professional association in Mississippi"
67,4,Montague Defendants had no attorney-client relationship with Pohl
68,4,Montague Defendants were not parties to the underlying Pohl-Favre-Precision litigation or settlement agreement
69,4,"Montague Defendants are represented by Martin, Disiere, Jefferson & Wisdom, L.L.P. (Dale Jefferson, Bar No. 10607900; Raul H. Suazo, Bar No. 24003021; Kevin G. Cain, Bar No. 24012371), 808 Travis Street, 20th Floor, Houston, Texas 77002"
70,4,"Pohl represented by Jean C. Frizzell, Reynolds Frizzell LLP (per certificate of service)"
71,5,"Deposition taken on May 15, 2018 in the Cheatham case (Cause No. 2017-41110), not the Pohl v. Kassab case"
72,5,Only pages 85-93 and 318-319 included in this exhibit
73,5,Lance Kassab examined Pohl for 5 hours and 59 minutes (total deposition 9:26 a.m. to 5:05 p.m.)
74,5,"Also present: Billy Shepherd (attorney for Pohl, 0 minutes used), Brock Akers (attorney for Robert Ammons/Ammons Law Firm, 0 minutes used), Mark Collmer (attorney for Donalda Pohl, 0 minutes used)"
75,5,"Pohl accused Kassab and his 'crew' of stealing files, robbing his office, hacking computers, and soliciting clients with lies"
76,5,Pohl clarified he was not a personal witness to the break-in: 'I wasn't there'
77,5,"Pohl could not identify a specific date for the alleged theft, placing it around 2014 continuing into 2015-2016"
78,5,"The alleged theft was at Pohl's Gulfport, Mississippi office and occurred in connection with its closing"
79,5,"Pohl never filed any police report, grievance, or contacted any law enforcement (other than an informal conversation with a retired Oklahoma DA)"
80,5,Pohl said the events didn't occur in Texas as reason for not contacting Harris County DA
81,5,"Pohl accused Favre of paying $85,000 to fund the robbery and additional money to hack computers and sell passwords"
82,5,"Pohl identified the alleged perpetrators as Kassab, Nicholson, Montague, June Allison, Ladner, Walker, and Favre"
83,5,"The Cheatham case involves wrongful death claims by family of LaDonna Cheatham, Destiny Cheatham, and Markus Cheatham"
84,5,"Defendants in Cheatham case included Pohl, Donalda Pohl, Law Office of Michael Pohl PLLC, Robert Ammons, and The Ammons Law Firm LLP"
85,5,"Reporter: Laurie Carlisle, CSR, Texas CSR 2205, Omni Litigation, 832 Tulane Street, Houston, Texas 77007"
86,6,"Filed by Kassab pursuant to Rule 8.03(a) on behalf of approximately 10,000 alleged victims along the Gulf Coast"
87,6,"Kassab Law Firm address: 1420 Alabama, Houston, Texas 77004"
88,6,"Pohl's address: 2254 Stratton Forest Heights, Colorado Springs, CO 80906"
89,6,Companion grievance No. 201801826 filed against Cyndi Rusnak
90,6,"Pohl, Williamson (now deceased), and Rusnak formed a joint venture to commit barratry beginning approximately April 2012"
91,6,Williamson and Rusnak practiced under trade name 'Williamson & Rusnak'
92,6,"Fee split: 40% to Pohl, 60% to Williamson and Rusnak (split based on resources contributed)"
93,6,"Runners hired: Walker and Seymour (April/May 2012), Ladner (July 2012 after Robinson withdrew)"
94,6,"Dane Maxwell and CMV Investigations hired in early May 2012; paid $1,000/client; total up to $2.47 million"
95,6,"May 25, 2012 agreement: 30% of Pohl's 40% (12% Walker, 12% Seymour, 6% Robinson)"
96,6,"July 15, 2012 agreement: 22.5% to Ladner/Walker/Seymour (7.5% each)"
97,6,The Lawyers paid roughly $5 million total in 'barratry pass-through money'
98,6,"Walker admitted it was barratry; barratry pyramid: CMV $1,000 → mid-level $100-$250 → low-level $20-$30"
99,6,"Jacqueline Taylor: recruited via Boykin/CMV/Monica Chaney, paid $20-$30/client via Wal-Mart cash cards, solicited 100+ clients"
100,6,"Magdalena Santana: recruited by Seymour July 2012, paid $250/claim through Precision, solicited approximately 1,500 cases total, 77 first week"