On March 31, 2023, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partners Bob Bragalone and Andrew Schwartz and Senior Counsel Matthew Johnson successfully prevailed on a motion to dismiss against a prolific pro se plaintiff.
The plaintiff developed a business model of purchasing assignments of Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") claims from consumer and prosecuting claims as the assignee. In this case, the plaintiff acquired an FDCPA claim from a specific individual. The plaintiff claimed that he had the right to pursue claims through a lawful assignment from this individual.
The Gordon & Rees team was able to convince the court that such an assignment is invalid under Oklahoma law and, as such, the plaintiff lacked standing to prosecute the claim. The Honorable Charles B. Goodwin agreed with the team's arguments and granted their motion to dismiss.
A copy of the opinion in the matter, Dotson v. Credit Collection Services, USDC for the Western District of Oklahoma, Case No. CIV-22-255-G is attached here.