Prominent LA personal injury attorney accused of ‘predatory fees’

A proposed class action accuses personal injury attorney Jacob Emrani, whose visage is ubiquitous from his “Call Jacob” billboards along Southern California freeways, of having a predatory fee arrangement.

Emrani’s attorney said he denied the “manufactured and frivolous” claims.

“These fees were charged to Emrani clients separately from any other ‘costs,’ and were not based on any calculation of attorney or staff time, nor any other tangible measure of costs. … Further, the real reason Emrani charged the ‘flat administrative fee’ and the separate ‘administrative fee’ was because the firm’s representation would so often be terminated, that Emrani devised this as a means to derive a profit and/or recoup money against his very considerable monthly advertising budget,” plaintiffs’ attorney Alex D. Guerrero wrote in the complaint filed Jan. 3.

Emrani declined to comment when reached by phone on Monday, deferring to his attorney, Michael W. Feenberg.

“Mr. Emrani denies these manufactured and frivolous allegations and will address them in court, not in the press,” said Feenberg, with Nemecek & Cole in Encino.

Records from the Los Angeles County Superior Court show that Emrani and his law firm have settled cases brought by former clients, though they do not appear to be an unusual number for a high volume, consumer facing practice.

According to the amended complaint, Emrani, “operates as a legal intake mill, wherein the business model is to generate hundreds of client leads through pervasive advertising.” But after signing up a client, Guerrero wrote, the firm often engaged in “long delays” until clients attempted to get out of their deals with Emrani’s firm. At that point, Guerrero wrote, the firm invoked two administrative fees the client agreed to when they signed the contract. Mechaly v. Emrani, 24STCV00030 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Jan. 2, 2024).

Emrani’s “Call Jacob’’ slogan is used across many advertising platforms, including radio jingles. Thousand Oaks advertising firm Ad Leverage has used its Instagram and LinkedIn pages to tout what a “game changer” it was when it introduced the phrase over a decade ago, turning Emrani into “an undeniable front-runner in Southern California’s unbelievably competitive legal space.”

According to the complaint, Marc Mechaly contacted Emrani’s firm after a 2015 car accident, and Emrani filed a complaint just before the statute of limitations ran out. Guerrero wrote that Emrani made a series of “false” statements to Mechaly including that the case was moving forward even though “Mr. Emrani knew that none of the defendants had been served or filed a responsive pleading at the time of Mr. Mechaly’s inquiry.”

These statements “constituted a knowing and intentional violation of California Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 8.4(c),” Guerrero wrote. Emrani also “told Marc Mechaly to fabricate the amount of his loss of earnings claim” and “to improperly inflate” his medical expenses, the complaint stated.

“Emrani let the case languish for approximately two years without even serving any of the defendants, before plaintiff terminated Emrani’s legal representation and ultimately hired attorneys Albert J. Elmassian and Alex D. Guerrero” in that case, Guerrero wrote. The Los Angeles based Elmassian is also representing Mechaly in his case against Emrani.

According to the complaint, they were able to reach a settlement on the personal injury claim in January 2020, a claim that matches court records. Mechaly v. Seven Bros. Enterprise Inc., BC648622 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 3, 2017).

Emrani “refused to cooperate with plaintiff’s new attorneys,” “threatened to hold the entire settlement up by insisting that his name be on the settlement check,” and demanded “fraudulent and unlawful” ‘administrative fees,’” the lawsuit claims. The complaint also claims Emrani and his firm engaged in fraud, unjust enrichment, and breach of contract and implied covenant. It seeks damages and attorneys fees.

Guerrero wrote that he believes many of Emrani’s other clients had similar experiences.

“The proposed Class is composed of thousands of persons dispersed throughout the State of California and joinder is impracticable,” he wrote. “The precise number and identity of Class members are unknown to plaintiff but can be obtained from Emrani’s records.”