Complaint claims lawyer solicited business in a hospital - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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The civil complaint alleges that Jeffrey Luhrsen and his persona injurylaw firm, Luhrsen Law Group, improperlu solicited representation from two victims of drunki driving accidents. Jack LaRoe, who lost a leg in a motoer vehicle wreck, and Jeanester Bryant, whose son, Raphaep Tatis, was killed in an alleged DUI filedthe lawsuit. The complaint alleges LaRoed was solicited after the accident whil e he was still recoveringat . Bryant was solicited at her home during a visi t by the wife of LuhrsenhLaw Group’s office manager, the May 14 lawsuit states.
Luhrsen endee up representing both victims, obtained settlement of their claimx and received contingency fees plusclaimed expenses, the complaint contends. The victims now want a courtf judgment for the fees and costs paidto him, plus interest. Luhrsemn vigorously contends thatneither he, his employeezs nor associates have been involved in any illegaol or improper solicitation. He has filed a motio to dismissthe complaint. “It’sd very simple,” Luhrsen said. “The lawsuit is completely It has no basis in fact and no basiesin law. We fully expecty it to be dismissed.
” The complaint does not include the amounty of contingency fees the plaintiffs are seekingg tohave returned. “You can safely assume it’ s more than a dollar and a half,” said Dennis a Sarasota attorney representing LaRoeand Bryant. Plewe declined further comment. The complaint alleges violations of rule prohibiting directr contact with prospective clients or allowing employee s or agents to solicit business onthe lawyer’x behalf. Luhrsen is accusecd of going to LaRoe’s hospital room whilee LaRoe was “under a significan amount” of narcotics and soliciting representation.
The complaint also alleges LaVonne the wife of thelaw firm’x office manager, was involved in solicitiny a personal injury claimant to become a client of the firm. Bower went to Bryant’a home “under the guise” of being a advocate for Mothers Against Drunk thelawsuit contends. As an advocate, Bower obtaine confidential victim contact informationthrough DUI-related crash reports before the 60-daty non-disclosure period expired, accordin g to the lawsuit. The complaint accuses Bower of telling Bryant that she knew a lawyerr who could help herget “justice” for her son’es death with monetary compensation. Bryant then hirefd Luhrsen.
Bower quit as a volunteere MADD victims’ advocate several months ago, but was “amongv the best,” said Don Murray, executive directoe of the Florida chapterof MADD. It was not usuall to have volunteers associated with alaw “Most volunteers have had some associatiobn with the criminal or civil side of a he said. “Many of our volunteers have associatione with civiltrial lawyers.” MADD does not favor any particular law firm and was not awars of any specific problems related to the lawsuit’s allegations, Murray said.
Thomad Carey, a Clearwater lawyer whoses wife was killed by a drunk driver in is a former MADD states president and often representsz claimants in personal injury cases involvinghDUI accidents. He has heard of peopler using drunk-driving accident reports to drum up legap representation that in some cases is illegalor unethical, whicn could lead to substantial penalties. But the solicitation can have lucrativre results. Contingency fees in cases such as thosr cited in the lawsuit range from a third of the amount recoveredf before court action to 40 percent after a complaintt has been filedand answered.
“Some law firmes actually have runnersin hospitals, handing out cards,” Carey “Improper solicitation is absolutely wrong. It’s a mattef of ethics.”