TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A law firm’s legal action alleging numerous forms of wrongdoing, including the hacking and illegal procurement of protected emails, were committed by attorneys participating in and overseeing the NFL Concussion Litigation settlement has been stayed in a Florida federal court.
Collins & Truett Attorneys, P.A. of Tallahassee, Fla. first filed suit in Leon County Circuit Court on June 11 versus Roma Petkauskas (in her individual and official capacity) and Brown & Greer, PLC of Richmond, Va., Special Masters Perry Golkin of New York, N.Y., Wendelle E. Pritchett, Jo-Ann M. Verrier, Susan M. Lin and David Hoffman of Philadelphia, Lawrence F. Stengel of Lancaster, and HML Group, LLC of West Chester.
(The case was later removed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida on July 12.)
According to the lawsuit, Petkauskas, a Virginia attorney and auditor for Brown Greer, works under the authority and supervision of the co-defendant Special Masters, and has been tasked with performing civil audits of NFL Concussion Litigation settlement claims on behalf of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Anita B. Brody – who is overseeing the settlement.
As part of attorney Petkauskas’ civil investigative process, the suit says her subpoena questions to the Collins Firm “demonstrate criminal violations and an unauthorized breach of protected attorney-client communications and attorney-work product privileged documents, which has not been sought, requested or waived.”
Specifically, the suit alleges Petkauskas inquired about a non-existent email address that has no recipient and was copied to only non-NFL claims related clients, co-counsel and staff for the Collins Firm.
As a result, the Collins Firm deduced that Petkauskas and others had allegedly obtained illegal access to its outgoing emails and email servers.
“There was no subpoena nor request for access to these privileged and protected matters and records. Nor was there an opportunity to protect this information by filing a motion to quash or modify the subpoena, and a hearing and ruling by the Court, as is required under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(d)(3)(A)(iii),” the suit says.
“Attorney Roma Petkauskas submitted questions concerning a non-existent email address that has no recipient and was copied to only non-NFL claims related clients, co-counsel, and staff for the Collins Firm.”
The plaintiff firm’s lawsuit alleges that defendant HML Group, LLC hacked into its emails and email servers. Per a settlement press release, HML Group “was hired to provide supportive investigative services in the ongoing investigation.”
“The base motives of abuse and harassment involved in the auditors and Special Masters’ prosecution to deny NFL claims, and criminal conduct in hacking emails and email servers, accomplishing nothing but tarnishing the reputation of Judge Brody’s delegation to auditors and Special Masters with whom she has placed her trust, and the needless and trivial-based delay of NFL claims,” the suit states.
“This unbridled, illegal and criminal abuse of discovery by defendants, as lawyers, and by their agents, such as HML Group, LLC, and their receipt of illegal information due to their ties to the FBI, as well as known violations of Federal and Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, Florida and federal criminal law, and Florida, Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct, while engaging in direct or tacit support of criminal conduct, cannot be countenanced.”
However, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida Judge Robert L. Hinkle ordered the case be stayed on July 16, for jurisdictional reasons.
“The Court has received notice from the Clerk of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation that a conditional transfer order has been entered in this case. The plaintiff asserts the case should not be transferred, but that is an issue for the Panel. On this Court’s own motion, it is ordered that further proceedings are stayed, and all deadlines that have not passed are tolled, until 14 days after entry of an order denying transfer or remanding this case to this district,” Hinkle said.
For a count of attorney-work product privilege and attorney-client privilege violations, the plaintiff is seeking general damages and any damage permitted by Florida law to be awarded for a breach of its attorney work product privilege and attorney-client communications privilege, attorney’s fees and costs, injunctive relief to protect further such violations and for such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper.
The plaintiff is represented by Richard B. Collins of Collins & Truett, in Tallahassee, Fla.
The defendants are represented by Orran L. Brown Sr. of Brown Green in Richmond, Va., plus Sadaf Chaudhry and Eric C. Sprechman of Cole Scott & Kissane, in West Palm Beach, Fla.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida case 4:21-cv-00286
Second Judicial Circuit Court of Leon County, Fla. case 2021-ca-001049
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com