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San Antonio lawyer Cesar Ornelas II is among the defendants in a suit alleging a conspiracy to commit civil barratry—the third one filed in recent months—which accuses them of working with a funeral home owner to solicit potential law firm clients.

In a petition filed Tuesday and amended Wednesday, plaintiff Loretta Chavez also named as defendants Ornelas' father, Cesar Ornelas, and his company, Group of Legal Specialties (GLS), as well as Charles Finegan, the owner of a funeral home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Chavez alleged in the amended petition filed in State District Court in Nueces County that lawyer Ornelas and his father, along with others and their employees or agents, were "engaged in a conspiracy, partnership and/or joint venture to improperly and illegally solicit clients who were victims (or family members of victims) of catastrophic accidents, primarily from funeral homes associated with Ornelas [the father.]"

The original petition also named Corpus Christi lawyers Kevin Liles and Stuart White and their firm, Liles White, as defendants. They were removed in the amended petition.

Plaintiffs lawyer David Kassab of the Kassab Law Firm declined to comment on the petitions.

Liles and White did not return calls seeking comment. Dale Jefferson, a partner at Houston's Martin Disiere Jefferson & Wisdom who represents Liles and White in other matters, said, "There is no case against them and they are not named."

This isn't the first Texas civil barratry suit against the defendants.

Ornelas II and his father, who owns several funeral homes, were also named as defendants in a suit filed in August in Bexar County that also alleges a civil barratry conspiracy involving funeral homes. And they were named in another such suit filed last year in El Paso County.

Liles, White and their firm are defendants in the El Paso suit. Jefferson said they deny the allegations.

In the newest suit, the New Mexico woman alleged that after partial settlement in April of a lawsuit related to the death of her mother, several lawyers were paid "substantial fees," and "it is believed" some lawyers shared fees with lawyer Ornelas II or his non-lawyer father and GLS.

She has brought civil barratry, civil conspiracy and aiding and abetting causes of action against the defendants.

Ornelas II, the lawyer, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that Chavez has never been his client, and he received no fee from the litigation.

"I've never had this case, never dealt with this at all," he said.

He has denied the allegations in all three suits alleging civil barratry.

Multiple attempts to reach Ornelas, the funeral home owner, for comment were unsuccessful. One call to his number was briefly answered, but the person who answered did not respond to a question about the allegations and hung up.

Finegan did not respond to a call for comment at his funeral home in Albuquerque.

The amended petition alleged that Ornelas owns several funeral homes in Texas and is president of GLS, a marketing firm he uses to train funeral directors to solicit business for his son's law firm. In return, the petition alleged, the funeral directors would receive compensation and the families solicited would receive paid funeral expenses.

Chavez alleged in the petition that a manager at an Albuquerque funeral home owned by Finegan contacted her after her mother's death. Her mother had died after a fall at a nursing home, and Finegan allegedly solicited her to hire Ornelas—the funeral home owner and lawyer's father—to sue the nursing home, and she did so.

In her petition, Chavez alleged that she worked with Ornelas II and his nonlawyer father on the lawsuit.

"At no time was [Chavez] advised that the way she and her family had been procured as clients was illegal or improper or caused her a wrongful injury," the petition alleged.

Chavez alleged that when several firms were paid fees from her April 2019 settlement, some lawyers shared the fees with Ornelas II, his father or GLS. She also alleged that Finegan received payment for soliciting Chavez and her family, and bonuses were paid to his employees.

"This illegal and unethical solicitation is a direct product of the conspiracy engaged in by [Ornelas, Ornelas II], Finegan and others to solicit clients," the petition alleged.

Chavez is seeking up to $500,000 in damages, including statutory damages under the Texas civil barratry law, and fee forfeiture.

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