Idaho State Bar finds attorney filed unauthorized lawsuits on behalf of consumers, among other violations.
9/17/2019 10:30
A years-long legal case and investigation stemming from lawsuits filed against an Idaho debt collection company and its law firm has ended after the Idaho State Bar found the attorney did not follow required practices.
According to a report from EastIdahoNews.com, Ryan Ballard filed a series of lawsuits against Medical Recovery Services (MRS) and its law firm, Smith, Driscoll & Associates (SDA), on behalf of several consumers; but he did not have a written contract to file the lawsuits or inform clients about decisions in the case that would have required their permission to accept.
The lawsuits started in 2014, alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and state laws but, according to the article, 17 of the 23 clients represented by Ballard informed the Idaho State Bar during its investigation that they did not permit Ballard to file a lawsuit on their behalf.
Bryan Smith, an attorney with SDA, filed a 217-page grievance against Ballard with the Idaho State Bar in 2018.
Smith also contested the lawsuits filed against MRS by Ballard and the case was eventually dismissed. Ballard paid attorney fees accrued by MRS as a result of the case, according to the article.
After Smith filed the grievance, the Idaho State Bar also filed a complaint against Ballard that outlines many of the same issues.
Ultimately, Ballard addressed his mistakes in the case and agreed to resign instead of going through disciplinary hearings with the Idaho State Bar. He cannot reapply to the state bar for at least five years.
MRS and SDA issued a statement after the unfounded lawsuits were dismissed:
“Ryan Ballard filed over two dozen lawsuits against my law firm, Smith, Driscoll & Associates, PLLC, and against Medical Recovery Services, LLC,” Smith said in a statement to EastIdahoNews.com.
“The court agreed that we had done nothing wrong. And what we said then continues to be true today that Smith, Driscoll & Associates and Medical Recovery Services follow the laws applicable to debt collection. The loss of a law license is an appropriate step to discourage unethical conduct, and we are always willing to work with the Idaho State Bar, like we did here, to make sure lawyers are held to account. We are also pleased that the Idaho State Bar investigated the matter thoroughly and that we are now totally vindicated from the claims that Mr. Ballard made against us.”
Ballard also issued the following statement to EastIdahoNews.com:
“In seven years of practicing law, I was able to help more than 1,000 Idahoans resolve collection lawsuits brought against them. I also represented approximately 70 people in lawsuits against debt collectors for alleged abusive collection efforts and practices.
Unfortunately, in my zeal to help as many people as I could, I took some shortcuts, including not always explaining all possible outcomes and downsides of their case, not always making sure our fee arrangements were in writing (which were almost always on a fee-shifting basis where I worked for free unless I won the case for the client and then I would get paid by the other party), and not always regularly updating clients about their case. Notably, it was not my clients that initially complained to the Idaho State Bar about my missteps.”