Dils
Vanhoose
PARKERSBURG – A Wood County attorney has taken no for an answer in her attempt to collect legal fees and expenses from two former clients.
Records show, after filing them on May 14, 2010, Jan Dils, and one of her associates, Heather Vanhoose, took little to no action in pursing their breach of contract suits against John Doak and Gregory Scott Lang II. In the suits, Dils and Vanhoose alleged Doak and Lang owed them $27,078.65, and $20,450, respectively, for legal fees, and expenses in helping them obtain disability claims through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
After he was served with a summons, Doak, 65, of Parkersburg, filed a pro se answer on June 4, 2010 disputing Dils' and Vanhoose's allegations. In it, he says he hired them in 2008 to help him with is claim, which he originally filed in 1993, after receiving a 10 percent disability rating.
According to Doak, Vanhoose in a letter dated Feb. 26, 2010 said she did not disagree with the VA's finding. In his answer, Doak sought a counterclaim for Dils' and Vanhoose's fees and court costs in the amount of $200,000 "for misrepresentation and harassment of a veteran of the United States of America upon which I have been fighting since 1993."
Records show, Judge J.D. Beane dismissed the suit on Oct. 13, 2010 following a motion filed by Dils and Vanhoose stating they "no longer wish to pursue the claims in the above-styled action and jointly move the Court to dismiss all claims and counterclaims with prejudice."
After he was served with a summons on May 20, 2010, Lang, 32, of Ravenswood, filed no answer in his suit. When Dils and Vanhoose failed to take any further action, including filing a motion for default judgment, Judge Jeffrey B. Reed dismissed it on Feb. 15 due to inactivity.
Dils, 44, who in addition to Parkersburg, has offices in Charleston, Logan and Beckley, specializes in personal injury, and disability benefits cases. Her television and radio commercials tout her as being an attorney who "won't take 'no' for an answer."
According to the firm's website, Vanhoose has been an associate since 2007.
Wood Circuit Court case numbers 10-C-191 (Doak) and 192 (Lang)