A civil rights lawyer whose representation of police brutality victims brought him prominence in the Black Lives Matter movement has been hit with a lawsuit for alleged unauthorized practice of law in Texas.

In late January, the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee sued S. Lee Merritt in Collin County district court. He's been practicing law in Texas, even though he's not licensed here, the committee alleged. He's a licensed attorney only in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Merritt, a Philadelphia attorney licensed in Pennsylvania in 2012, last year was ranked eighth on a magazine's list of influential young African-Americans, and he won the president's award for legal activism from the Dallas NAACP. A couple of the cases that brought him such accolades involved Texas incidents: Merritt represented the family Jordan Edwards, 15, who was killed in April 2017 by a Dallas police officer who was later indicted for murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant. Merritt also represented Marlin Gipson, 21, who was attacked by a police K-9 dog in Houston.

The Jan. 30 petition said that Merritt has lived in Texas since July 2014, during which time he's been a full-time employee of the Dallas Independent School District. He once applied through the Texas Board of Law Examiners to become a Texas lawyer and applied to take the 2015 bar exam, but he never took the test and since then hasn't attempted to get State Bar of Texas admission.

Despite the fact that Merritt doesn't hold a Texas law license, Merritt sent a letter of representation to opposing counsel in a personal injury lawsuit in a Texas district court, saying he represented the plaintiff. He entered a contingent fee agreement with the plaintiff. He told opposing counsel he was the plaintiff's lawyer and discussed pretrial motions.

He entered a retention agreement in a suit affecting the parent-child relationship, filed in a Texas district court, and advised opposing counsel that he represented one of the parties. He accepted discovery requests for his client, accepted fees for legal services, appeared and spoke by telephone in a hearing, and prepared and filed a motion.

Merritt prepared and filed a lawsuit in a Tarrant County district court, bringing a claim for numerous plaintiffs against the Arlington Independent School District. In that case he appeared in a hearing and joined with another Texas lawyer to sign a notice of appeal to an order which had dismissed the case.

The unauthorized law practice committee's petition against Merritt includes allegations that he worked as a lawyer in another personal injury case and another a successful mediation which produced a settlement that Merritt took as his fee, but refused to share any fee with another lawyer involved in the mediation.

Merritt also set up legal services websites advertising his law practice, without disclosing he wasn't licensed in Texas. He represented himself as a lawyer in advertisements, on social and traditional media, and to police and law enforcement agencies—even a district attorney's office. He gave legal advice to people, said he would assist them in legal matters, contracted with clients, prepared and filed pleadings and more.

The committee claims that the public could face irreparable damage and harm if Merritt keeps up his activities. It asked the court for injunctive relief to stop Merritt's acts and practices that amount to the unauthorized practice of law.

The court on Jan. 30 granted a temporary restraining order, and there's a hearing set on Feb. 19 to determine whether to extend that relief.

Merritt and his attorney, B. Prater Monning III of Wills Point, each didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. Neither did An Lee Hsu, who represents the committee.

Angela Morris is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Twitter at @AmorrisReports.