Texans for Lawsuit Reform

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In the News

New Orleans attorney charged in federal probe of brazen staged-accident scheme

New Orleans Advocate, November 5, 2020

By John Simerman

U.S. Attorney Peter Strasser announced the first felony charges against a New Orleans attorney in a blockbuster federal probe into “slammers,” “spotters,” and the vehicle collisions they allegedly staged involving tractor trailers and buses over several years.

The charges announced Thursday against lawyer Danny Keating, though hardly a surprise, mark a dramatic development in an investigation that has produced public charges against 32 defendants, unfurled over the course of several indictments. Strasser announced the new indictment in a rare news conference outside the federal courthouse on Poydras Street.

Until now, lawyers accused of working with street-level “slammers” to orchestrate perhaps hundreds of staged crashes in the New Orleans area hadn’t been charged and weren’t identified by name in federal court records. Keating has been referred to in federal court documents as “Attorney A.”

Some of their identities have been revealed and confirmed since, gleaned through civil court filings and other records. A recently filed civil lawsuit accused Keating and two alleged accomplices, both of whom have pleaded guilty in the federal criminal case, of racketeering.

The sprawling case has opened a window to a brazen racket that allegedly involved many New Orleans-area residents volunteering to risk injury, and in some cases surgery, for cash.

In various groups, led over several years by a series of slammers, the scheme called for packing vehicles with willing participants and driving into major wrecks.

Slammers like Damian Labeaud and Cornelius Garrison III — who appeared to work their alleged schemes separately, in cahoots with different lawyers – would do the driving, then jump into a getaway car driven by a “spotter.”

One of the remaining passengers would then slide behind the wheel, with lawsuits to follow.

Prosecutors allege they were aided by lawyers who would advise them on how to maximize the payout, including recommendations for choosing surgery afterward.

Lawyers who defend insurance companies began seeing a steep rise in those commercial vehicle accidents, and in the same locations, mostly along the stretch of Interstate 10 leading out of downtown into New Orleans East.

Those lawyers connected the dots and began challenging those big-ticket accident claims in civil court, later spurring the federal investigation.

The white-collar probe took on a dark specter in September, when Garrison, an allegedly prolific slammer, was shot dead at age 54 inside his apartment in the Gentilly neighborhood.

His slaying came four days after his name appeared atop an indictment naming nine defendants in an alleged staged-accident scheme.

Authorities fear it was a hit job to stymie the prosecution.

Garrison’s attorney, federal public defender Claude Kelly, has said his client had feared for his life in the weeks before he was killed. Kelly declined to say whether Garrison had been helping the government.

The indictmeNnt says Garrison earned $150,000 over the course of dozens of crashes, with the help of an attorney since identified as Vanessa Motta, and her fiancé, disbarred lawyer Sean Alfortish. Neither Motta nor Alfortish has been charged.

In the meantime, several other defendants in the probe have pleaded guilty, including Labeaud.

The most recent guilty pleas came last month. Roderick Hickman, 49, of Baton Rouge, Bernell Gale, 43, of Raceland, and Troy Smith, 56, of Houma, each pleaded guilty to mail fraud for their roles in the scam.

Authorities claim Hickman played a central role as organizer, slammer and spotter, including pretending to be a witness to accidents staged by others.

Their pleas only drew the federal crosshairs tighter on the attorneys who allegedly conspired with those accident-stagers to profit from the settlement fees on manufactured wrecks.

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Texans for Lawsuit Reform

9 hours ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

In case you missed it: Gov. Abbott announced that Texas was again named the top exporting state in the nation by the U.S. Census Bureau. Texas had $279.3 billion in exports in 2020, more than California and New York combined. That’s a lot of cargo moving on Texas roads. And a lot of targets for abusive litigation against commercial vehicle operators. Read and share: bit.ly/2ZvgIwy ... See MoreSee Less

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Exporting Lawsuit Abuse

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We’ve recently taken a closer look at the abusive lawsuit cottage industry that is driving litigation against commercial vehicle operators. This litigation scheme started by targeting the trucking c...
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Texans for Lawsuit Reform

1 day ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

It is unfortunate to report that, in fact, some predatory plaintiff attorneys are working with some area school districts to file lawsuits against contractors, architects, engineers and the many subcontractors who work with them in the construction of campuses across the Rio Grande Valley. Read and share: bit.ly/3sIBSUv ... See MoreSee Less

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Right to Repair vs. Frivolous Lawsuits

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It is unfortunate to report that, in fact, some predatory plaintiff attorneys are working with some area school districts to file lawsuits against contractors, architects, engineers and the many subco...
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Texans for Lawsuit Reform

2 days ago

Texans for Lawsuit Reform

We need commercial vehicles for our communities to function. A professional driver for Atlas Delivery Services in Houston undertook a perilous, 197-mile trip to San Antonio in the height of the storm to deliver life-saving medication to an 18-month-old heart transplant patient. Without it, her body would have rejected her new heart. Read and share: bit.ly/3sDs4ef ... See MoreSee Less

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'Just doing my job' - Houston driver braves icy roads to deliver vital medicine to San Antonio toddler

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We need commercial vehicles for our communities to function. A professional driver for Atlas Delivery Services in Houston undertook a perilous, 197-mile trip to San Antonio in the height of the storm ...
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lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
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lawsuitreform avatarTLR@lawsuitreform·
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#ICYMI: Gov. @GregAbbott_TX announced that TX was named the top exporting state by the @uscensusbureau. TX had $279.3 billion in exports in 2020. That’s a lot of targets for abusive litigation against commercial vehicle operators. Read & RT: #tortreform

Exporting Lawsuit Abuse

We’ve recently taken a closer look at the abusive lawsuit cottage industry that is driving litigation against commercial vehicle operators. This...

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4 Mar 1367580824351236097

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