CHARLESTON – A Charleston law firm has sued Frontier West Virginia and one of its attorneys for failing to pay for legal services, but the defendants call the lawsuit “unnecessary.”
Hissam Forman Donovan Ritchie PLLC filed its complaint August 16 in Kanawha Circuit Court against Frontier and Paul Garcia, the company’s Senior Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer who is based in Connecticut.
According to the complaint, the parties entered an agreement September 28, 2022, for the law firm to provide representation to one of its employees in court. The name of the employee and other information about the underlying case are not included in the civil complaint.
The firm says Frontier and Garcia paid invoices for many months. Then, they suddenly stopped earlier this year. The firm says Garcia notified it on August 15 of Frontier’s intent to breach its contract in bad faith.
“He taunted, ‘What are you going to do, sue?’” the firm says in its complaint before adding, “Yes.”
The firm says Garcia signed a written representation agreement on behalf of Frontier and includes it in the complaint. It also says Garcia attending hearings where the firm’s attorneys performed services per the agreement for the Frontier employee.
In its motion to dismiss, Frontier says the law firm is making a mountain out of a mole hill.
“What was a routine dispute over amounts owed – caused by HFDR failing to disclose a potential conflict of interest and then intentionally overcharging Frontier for services – has been blow out of proportion,” the company’s September 5 motion states. “This litigation is unnecessary.
“The matter is moot because contemporaneously with the filing of this motion, HFDR’s fees have been paid. In fact, Frontier has overpaid HFDR. Additionally, HFDR violated the parties’ agreement first so it cannot maintain a cause of action for breach of contract. Finally, HFDR’s fraud claim has no legal merit and violates West Virginia law.”
Frontier says when the September 28, 2022, agreement between it and HFDR was executed, the firm never disclosed it already had sued Frontier on behalf of another client in Mingo County in 2017. Frontier also says invoices paid showed the firm changed the rate paid to paralegals working on the case from $150 an hour to $215.
Also, the day before the firm filed the lawsuit, Frontier says HFDR contacted Frontier about several invoices totaling $14,252.50 that were outstanding. That was when Frontier says it noticed the change in the paralegal hourly rate. It also says the firm was charging for work of attorneys not authorized in the agreement, naming Zak Ritchie.
And as of the beginning of 2023, it says hourly rates for two attorneys increased without consent as well as another increase in the hourly paralegal rate.
In addition, Frontier says it couldn’t properly review the invoices because the law firm had redacted “everything except the hours worked and amounts owed.” When Frontier asked for unredacted invoices, it says HFDR refused and instead filed the lawsuit less than 24 hours later.
In his own motion to dismiss, also filed September 5, Garcia says he can’t be held personally liable for claims related to the agreement between Frontier and the law firm because he wasn’t personally paying HFDR for its legal services.
“HFDR does not allege Mr. Garcia did anything beyond serve as its corporate contact for Frontier,” the motion states.
In the initial complaint, filed before Frontier says it paid the invoices, the law firm says the total outstanding amount due was $14,252.50. It accuses Frontier and Garcia of breach of contract and fraud. It seeks compensatory damages for property loss, lost opportunity and income, aggravation and inconvenience. It also seeks punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interests and attorney fees.
The firm’ four named partners – Michael B. Hissam, Isaac R. Forman, Ryan M. Donovan and J. Zak Ritchie – are representing the firm. The defendants are being represented by Marc Williams, Robert Massie and Alexander Frampton of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Huntington. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Duke Bloom.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 23-C-712