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Case Notes
TX Law Firm Files Defamation Lawsuit over Ex-Client's Yelp Review
Austin, TX, law firm Grissom & Thompson alleges that Austin resident Joseph A. Browning used Yelp to publish “disparaging and blatantly false statements” about his legal representation by the firm. The law firm's attorney claims the review appeared after the firm sued Browning for fees.
Among other things, the firm alleges that Browning wrote on Yelp, “They will take everything you've got. They will not defend you. They will hurt you. That is their motive, that is their intent,” according to the June 24 plaintiff's original petition in Grissom & Thompson v. Browning, filed in Travis County's 250th District Court.
Kirk Fulk, a Goldthwaite solo, represents Grissom & Thompson.
“I've known Don Grissom and Bill Thompson since 1982 or '83. I've known them personally; I've known them professionally,” Fulk said. “And I can say without qualification, there is not a single true comment made by Mr. Browning [on Yelp]. I know the work they do. I've worked with them, as well as represented them. I've never seen anything like what Mr. Browning posted.”
He added, “At this stage, honestly, this case is not about the money. I would be shocked and amazed if Don and Bill even got their filing fees back from Mr. Browning. It's purely a matter of principle and personality. They don't want their names slandered.”
But Browning said everything he wrote in the review is “exactly accurate.”
Browning's post said that Browning's company was “in trouble and needed help,” and that the company's board of directors “explained that we would be greatly restricted on how and when we could pay.” At one point, said the Yelp review, Browning told Thompson “to cease working on the case” but that “those messages were apparently ignored.”
When it was done, “the billable hours ' exceeded the claim value of the case,” said the Yelp review.
When asked to respond to Grissom & Thompson's allegation that he wrote the review to hurt the firm, Browning said, “I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want my side of the story to be known.”
Fulk said the Yelp comments “were just out-and-out, 100 percent fabrications.”
' Angela Morris, Texas Lawyer
'
TX Law Firm Files Defamation Lawsuit over Ex-Client's Yelp Review
Austin, TX, law firm Grissom & Thompson alleges that Austin resident Joseph A. Browning used Yelp to publish “disparaging and blatantly false statements” about his legal representation by the firm. The law firm's attorney claims the review appeared after the firm sued Browning for fees.
Among other things, the firm alleges that Browning wrote on Yelp, “They will take everything you've got. They will not defend you. They will hurt you. That is their motive, that is their intent,” according to the June 24 plaintiff's original petition in Grissom & Thompson v. Browning, filed in Travis County's 250th District Court.
Kirk Fulk, a Goldthwaite solo, represents Grissom & Thompson.
“I've known Don Grissom and Bill Thompson since 1982 or '83. I've known them personally; I've known them professionally,” Fulk said. “And I can say without qualification, there is not a single true comment made by Mr. Browning [on Yelp]. I know the work they do. I've worked with them, as well as represented them. I've never seen anything like what Mr. Browning posted.”
He added, “At this stage, honestly, this case is not about the money. I would be shocked and amazed if Don and Bill even got their filing fees back from Mr. Browning. It's purely a matter of principle and personality. They don't want their names slandered.”
But Browning said everything he wrote in the review is “exactly accurate.”
Browning's post said that Browning's company was “in trouble and needed help,” and that the company's board of directors “explained that we would be greatly restricted on how and when we could pay.” At one point, said the Yelp review, Browning told Thompson “to cease working on the case” but that “those messages were apparently ignored.”
When it was done, “the billable hours ' exceeded the claim value of the case,” said the Yelp review.
When asked to respond to Grissom & Thompson's allegation that he wrote the review to hurt the firm, Browning said, “I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want my side of the story to be known.”
Fulk said the Yelp comments “were just out-and-out, 100 percent fabrications.”
' Angela Morris, Texas Lawyer
'
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