GALVESTON — The owners of a Texas City apartment building are suing their former attorney, alleging he negligently represented them in their battle with the city over the attempt to seize and demolish their property and to revoke the building's "grandfathered" status.
According to the Oct. 23 Galveston County District Court filing, Cossatot Partners LLC and Winifred Seghers accuse Cris Rasco of Rasco Law Firm, alleging malpractice and negligence by an attorney.
"Defendant Rasco breached the duty of care that arose from the attorney-client relationship by failing to meet an appeal deadline, making negligent statements that adversely impacted plaintiffs’ case against the city of Texas City, and by taking other, various actions that have injured [the] plaintiffs," the complaint states.
According to the suit, Cossatot Partners and Seghers hired Rasco in August 2018 to handle issues with the Texas City, which was attempting to have their apartment building demolished due to alleged "substandard" conditions. The plaintiffs allege the city "falsified paperwork" and used intimidation among other tactics in order to condemn their building. They allege Rasco missed deadlines and "was negligent in handling the plaintiffs’ cases in various ways."
Cossatot Partners and Seghers seek monetary relief between $1 million and $1.5 million, attorney fees, court costs, damages and all other just relief. They are represented by attorney Jerry Rios of the Law Offices of Jerry Rios in Austin.
Galveston County District Court case number 19-CV-2002.