HOUSTON – Two are law firms were recently sued by former clients over the handling of their transvaginal mesh complaints.
Seeking more than $1 million in damages, Linda Smith and Sandra Benoit filed suit against Clark Love & Hutson and the Lee & Murphy Law Firm on May 13 in Harris County District Court.
According to the lawsuit, each of the women signed contingent fee agreements with the law firms to represent them in litigation against Boston Scientific Corporation.
Smith, a California resident, claims the firms created a higher value for a settlement for clients whose cases had been filed in a court of competent jurisdiction and discriminated against clients, like herself, whose “suit was not filed through no fault of her own.”
The category devised by the law firms was referred to as “Advanced Litigation,” according to the suit.
“The Defendant law firms to whom Smith trusted … devised a schedule that discriminated against clients on the basis of their age … in the ‘special master’ system they devised, which decreased the work expected from these firms, but increased their enormous profits…,” the suit states.
“Their actions in setting up this procedure before a complaint judge in a rural county with no jurisdiction was designed to minimalize their efforts on behalf of Smith as well as others and maximize their recovery of fees for doing as little work as possible and reduce her recovery for her serious injuries.”
Benoit, who resides in Illinois, also alleges she was discriminated against because of the systems the firms had in place.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys George Bishop and B. Ward Maedgen.
Case No. 2021-28921