A former client of Jacob Emrani is suing the Los Angeles personal-injury attorney and his law firm in a proposed class action alleging that unlawful “administrative fees” were charged to help fund the firm’s familiar “Call Jacob” legal advertising.
The lawsuit on behalf of plaintiff Marc Mechaly was filed Jan. 3 in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the Law Offices of Jacob Emrani, which the complaint alleges “operates as a legal intake mill, wherein the business model is to generate hundreds of client leads through pervasive advertising.”
The lawsuit argues that a typical fee agreement with the law firm charges 45% of the final amount recovered. The agreement also charges a “flat administrative fee” and an “administrative fee” to pay for in-house handling and investigative services, in addition to other itemized costs, according to the complaint.
“... The real reason Emrani charged the ‘flat administrative fee’ and the separate ‘administrative fee’ was because the firm’s representation would so often be terminated, that Emrani devised this as a means to derive a profit and/or recoup money against his very considerable monthly advertising budget,” the lawsuit says.
Mechaly’s attorney, Alex Guerrero, declined to comment about the lawsuit, but Emrani’s attorney said none of the lawsuit’s claims are true, including fraud, unjust enrichment and breach of contract allegations.
“The allegation is false and devoid of merit,” attorney Michael Feenberg told the Southern California Record. “We have no further comment and will address the frivolous claims in court.”
The lawsuit alleges numerous violations of the California Rules of Professional Conduct and that the law firm’s activities merit disciplinary action by the California State Bar.
Mechaly became a client of Emrani’s after a 2015 auto accident and was later told by Emrani to fabricate the amount of his loss-of-earnings claim, according to the complaint. The attorney also advised Mechaly to seek medical treatments that would inflate a future damages award, the plaintiff contends.
“Emrani let the case languish for approximately two years without even serving any of the defendants, before plaintiff terminated Emrani’s legal representation […]” the lawsuit states.
The proposed class is in the thousands and consists of those who paid Emrani or his firm, in the last four years, the “administrative fee” in their contingency-fee agreements, according to the complaint.
Emrani does little in the way of legal work on behalf of his clients, the plaintiff says.
“Jacob Emrani does not personally take or defend depositions, Jacob Emrani does not draft complaints or discovery, he does not review medical records, and Jacob Emrani has only performed approximately two trials in the past more than 25 years,” the lawsuit states.
Emrani is also accused of obstructing settlements obtained for former clients who are being represented by new attorneys, the complaint says.
Tort-reform advocates argue that legal filings based on mass marketing and a high-volume business model can significantly cost California consumers in the long run. The average cost of full-coverage auto insurance in the Golden State is 6% higher than the national average, according to Bankrate, which indicates that California is “an at-fault or tort state.”
At-fault states tend to be burdened with higher rates of litigation after auto accidents, according to personal-injury attorney Jared Staver. The higher level of legal costs created by mass-tort practices can lead to higher costs of goods and services, including cars and medicine, according to the president of the Taxpayers Alliance, David Williams.