LOS ANGELES - A lawsuit filed in federal court alleges that a company that purports to offer legal services to low-income people nationwide instead preys on them.
According to the suit filed last week in Denver, all the victims had asked for assistance from Legal Aid National Services of Aurora, Colo. - or one of a dozen related entities - believing that they were dealing with a legitimate provider of services for low-income persons. Those companies and 15 individuals affiliated with them have been operating fake legal aid operations in 27 states, the suit alleges.
The suit contends that the defendants violated a slew of laws including the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, federal copyright laws, federal false advertising laws, and various state statutes, including unfair competition laws.
The victims assert that they wired money or provided credit card information up front. Those individuals contend that they received inadequate services, or no service at all, and were left to fend for themselves in court.
The suit states that individual defendants, who are key figures in Legal Aid National Services have been involved in similar scams for the past 13 years, first operating in California, then moving their business successively to Florida, Nevada, and finally Colorado.
The suit names Kendrick Brown of Lone Tree, Colo., as the lead defendant.
According to the suit, Brown has a long list of aliases, including Kendrick White, Eugene White, and Pendrick White and "has previously been incarcerated in both Florida and California."
Efforts to contact Brown or the corporate office for comment last week were unsuccessful.
The suit states that he previously operated similar businesses in Palmdale and Lancaster in California, several cities in Florida and in Las Vegas.
Other principals of the company are described as being residents of Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Denver.
Thursday marked the second time in four months that San Francisco-based Morrison & Foerster has lodged a suit of this type. The first one, filed in Contra Costa County Superior Court, alleged that a California company was swindling people who need help with evictions.
The latest suit is much broader and was joined by the Minneapolis-based firm Faegre & Benson.
It was brought on behalf of two legitimate legal aid organizations, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid Inc., and Colorado Legal Services, both of which provide aid to low-income people in areas where the scams were allegedly perpetrated.
The suit seeks damages and disgorgement of the defendants "ill-gotten gains." The plaintiffs are seeking broad injunctive relief in an effort to prohibit the defendants from the unauthorized practice of law and the use of names that in any way suggest that they are associated with a legitimate legal aid organization.
Legal Aid National Services, also known as LANS Corp., advertises on the Internet and on a number of public websites under a variety of a names designed to induce consumers to retain their services, according to the suit.
