KINGWOOD – Estep & Shaffer LC is suing CDL Consult Inc. after the firm claims CDL failed to pay legal fees.
Justin Seyl, president of CDL, and Colin Self were also named as defendants in the suit.
On Aug. 1, 2014, Self contacted the plaintiff and requested that the plaintiff represent Merrith Hubert, a customer of CDL in a serious traffic offense in Randolph Magistrate Court, according to a complaint filed in Preston Circuit Court.
Estep & Shaffer claims Self informed the firm that he had inadvertently failed to inform Hubert that he had a hearing set and, as a result, a capias order had been issued for Hubert’s arrest.
Self then asked that the plaintiff immediately notice an appearance on Hubert’s behalf and try to get the capias order vacated, according to the suit.
The law firm claims it informed Self that getting the capias order set aside and negotiating a plea would be difficult, would take substantial work and would require the attorney from the firm to travel approximately 100 miles round trip to Randolph County for court appearances, which would be billed to CDL at the rate of $200 per hour and Self agreed to pay the fees.
The plaintiff was able to negotiate a very favorable plea agreement that vacated the capias order, avoided any possible jail time for Hubert and preserved his commercial driver’s license, which was his livelihood, according to the suit.
The law firm claims after the plea agreement had been negotiated with Randolph County authorities, Seyl informed the law firm that they had removed themselves from the case and would not pay the legal fees.
The defendants failed and refused to pay for the legal services they contracted for on behalf of their customer and are jointly and severally liable to the plaintiff for the fees associated with legal representation of Hubert under a breach of contract theory, according to the suit.
The law firm is seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. It is being represented by C. Paul Estep of the firm.
Preston Circuit Court case number: 15-C-194