HOUSTON — A Texas Attorney claiming Music World Properties owes her nearly $50,000 in unpaid legal service fees and the owner of the company auctioned Destiny's Child memorabilia to avoid creditors has been denied her appeal of a motion to dismiss counter and cross claims.
According to the Aug. 29 First Court of Appeals filing, the appellant Shannon Lang challenged a trial court's denial of her motion to dismiss counter and cross claims filed by the appellees Matthew Knowles' and Music World Properties, LLC also known as MW Properties, LLC.
Lang filed suit alleging Music World and Knowles owes her firm $49,120.35 for legal services provided. Music World then filed cross claims alleging Lang and attorney Ada Ferrer's unfair debt collection practices, legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. They also claim Lang lied about Knowles' selling memorabilia of Destiny's Child and his daughter Beyoncé Knowles-Carter to avoid creditors. Lang claims protection under the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) which is designed to "protect citizens from retaliatory lawsuits that seek to intimidate or silence them" from their First Amendment freedoms, according to the Appeals Court filing.
"This case does not involve a situation where a defendant relies on the TCPA but denies the occurrence of the action forming the basis for invoking the TCPA," Justice Julie Countiss wrote in the court decision. "As such, Lang has not proved, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the TCPA applies to the claims at issue."
The court affirmed the trial court's ruling that denied in part Lang's motion for dismissal based on the TCPA.