Prime Social Club, a members-only poker club in Houston that was shut down in a raid in May, has sued Jones Walker, alleging the firm made misrepresentations about a potential city ordinance that caused the club to unnecessarily pay "significant" fees and expenses to the firm and an affiliated investigator.

The private club, which does business as Prime Social, is seeking more than $1 million from Jones Walker in the lawsuit it filed on Wednesday in State District Court in Houston. Prime Social brings misrepresentation, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty causes of action against Jones Walker.

Prime Social alleged in the petition that it hired Jones Walker after the firm represented that it was "working on" an "anticipated" Houston ordinance regulating card rooms. The nature of Jones Walker's represented involvement with the proposed ordinance was not clear from the petition. Prime Social alleged it learned later that there was no such ordinance.

As a result, Prime Social alleged, it incurred substantial damages.

When asked to respond to the allegations in the suit, Jones Walker general counsel Ned Bergin wrote in a statement that the firm is still reviewing the lawsuit and does not comment on ongoing litigation matters.

Jones Walker managing partner Bill Hines did not immediately respond to an email seeking a comment on the allegations. An attempt to reach Lara Pringle, the head of the Houston office, via email was unsuccessful because she is out of the office this week.

In Bayou Social Club v. Jones Walker, Prime Social alleges that it hired Jones Walker shortly after it opened in 2018 to "ensure its ongoing operations." In part, Prime Social alleged, it relied on the Louisiana-based firm's representation that its attorneys were "experts in gaming law."

According to the petition, the firm also represented to Prime Social that it was handling matters related to the anticipated ordinance, and it advised the poker club to hire a Jones Walker investigator who would assist Prime Social in obtaining a license under the new ordinance.

"As it turns out, there was no 'coming' or 'anticipated' ordinance, and there was no basis for Jones Walker to believe it was legitimate," Prime Social alleged in the petition. The ordinance was "nothing more than an 'idea' being peddled" by another client or someone lawyers at the firm or the investigator knew, the suit alleged.

Prime Social said it formally terminated its relationship with Jones Walker but shortly afterward, in May, it was shut down in a highly publicized raid.

Charges against Prime Social representatives were ultimately dropped, but it was around that time that Prime Social learned that the anticipated ordinance was "nothing more than a sham" to generate fees, the petition said.

Prime Social's attorney, Donald Hudgins, a founder of Hudgins Law Firm of Houston, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

According to information on Prime Social's website, the club will reopen on Thursday.