Victory in the Court of Appeals
February 22, 2010The Corpus Christi Court of Appeals recently granted mandamus relief that ended a long-running class action. The opinion of Feb. 18, 2010 (In re Nationwide Credit, Inc.) directs the trial court to dismiss the class action. The plaintiff James Flanagan had a $150 dispute over satellite television services, but he sought to turn the case into a large class action. He filed a suit complaining that he was subjected to improper collection practices, and he asked for class certification. He also persuaded the trial judge not to send his case to arbitration, despite having signed an arbitration clause.
Nationwide Credit hired Beck Redden to assist in getting the case to arbitration and in overturning the class certification. Beck Redden partner David Gunn and his appellate colleague John Adcock filed a series of proceedings in the appellate courts. Those proceedings led to the case being sent to arbitration, where Beck Redden partner Jeff Golub persuaded the arbitrator to reject Flanagan's individual claims. That victory in turn led to the Court of Appeals' most recent ruling, which orders the trial court to dismiss the class action and to sign an order on Nationwide Credit's motion to confirm the arbitration award.