A Houston law firm reported to be “handling a massive volume of hurricane insurance claims across Louisiana” has come under fire from U.S. District Judge James D. Cain of the Western District of Louisiana.

Cain ordered a stay on all of the firm’s cases in October when it filed 1,500 claims that were filed just in time to meet a two-year deadline related to 2020’s Hurricane Laura. The judge said he was concerned that some of the cases might be duplicates or otherwise not fit to proceed.

Court hearings involving the McClenny, Moseley & Associates law firm have been covered in detail by The Advocate, which said the firm has “found itself in hot water in the Western District of Louisiana.”

Cain raised questions about the firm’s practices, from how it finds clients to how deeply it looks into each case before filing suit. The judge said he has handled about 7,000 hurricane cases since the hurricane two years ago and most firms submitted a maximum of 200 or 300 cases ahead of the August deadline.

Attorneys for the firm said they are simply using their firm’s technology and large staff to help as many people as possible.

One client of the firm appeared before Cain on Dec. 13, and the newspaper said he “seemed confused and defeated as he described his dealings with the firm.”

“I never got to talk to a lawyer,” he told the judge. “Nothing ever goes through.”

The client said he never realized McClenny was working on his behalf, despite a retainer agreement the firm held up in court that bears his electronic signature. Disabled and self-identified as low-income, the client said he couldn’t have signed the agreement to hire the firm since his government-issued cell phone doesn’t support that technology.

Cain told William Huye, who leads the firm’s Louisiana office, in court, “I’m concerned for your clients.”

Huye said in a later interview that he is confident that his firm was cleared to represent the client. “We’d be happy to go through the audit trail,” he said. Meanwhile, the client has hired a local attorney.

Funds have been transferred to the client’s new attorneys, Huye said. “If something was done improperly or incorrectly, we will make it right,”  he said.

In a separate hearing, Cain identified a number of cases in which the plaintiffs didn’t appear to be insured by the companies they were suing. The Advocate said it wasn’t just locals Cain is concerned about. The law firm started an aggressive outreach effort in the wake of Hurricane Ida in southeast Louisiana., blanketing metropolitan New Orleans with solicitation letters.

A New Orleans client hired McClenny to sue her insurance company and the two parties reached a settlement in June, almost a year later. The client complained that two checks that were issued didn’t arrive until almost half a year after they were issued.

Cain accused the firm of putting profits over clients and taking on more than its lawyers could handle. “Maybe y’all got away with this before,” Cain  said.  “You will not get away with this with me.”

Huye said delays in processing checks were mainly caused by the onerous process of working with mortgage companies that have to endorse them, an industry-wide issue, he said.

Huye said his firm is committed to helping the community recover and denied accusations of putting profits over people. “Whatever we need to do to help this community is what we’re going to do.”

The judge denied a request to release cases at a faster clip. “You’re going to represent these people,” he said. “You’re going to give their cases the attention they deserve.”

The Advocate said Cain hoped the contentious hearings will help spread the word about McClenny’s questionable practices. The firm is handling cases in Florida where Hurricane Ian caused widespread destruction.

“If nothing else comes of this, I hope the Eastern District (of Louisiana) caught wind of you guys,”  Cain told the firm’s attorneys. “I don’t trust you.”

The Advocate had the resources to cover this story and it’s one that I felt our readers needed to hear. Many residents in this area experienced some of the same problems getting their claims settled.

I spoke with Judge Cain after Hurricane Laura to get some idea of how he would handle the many lawsuits expected to be filed involving insurance claims. He said he was going to encourage mediation that would speed up settlements. It’s obvious he has been doing a great job protecting all of our interests.