KGW 8 News | By Kyle Iboshi | August 06, 2024
The Portland lawyer responsible for dozens of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuits is being sued by her former client for legal malpractice.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Multnomah County, Conner Slevin alleged his former attorney Jessica Molligan made legal arrangements, sent communications and negotiated settlements without his knowledge. The lawsuit alleged Molligan concealed her behavior for her own personal financial gain.
Portland attorney Michael Fuller filed the lawsuit on behalf of Slevin, who was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a beach accident in 2020.
A KGW investigation found Molligan and another lawyer, David Foster, have sued roughly 50 small businesses in the Portland-area since last fall. Following KGW’s initial report, Foster resigned from the cases.
Molligan accused the convenience stores, restaurants and gas stations of violating some technical aspects of the ADA, the 1990 federal law that protects the rights of people with disabilities.
In many cases, the property owners said they didn’t know there was an ADA compliance issue until they received a demand letter from the Portland lawyer. The initial letter didn’t specify what needed to be fixed but proposed a settlement agreement. Molligan wouldn’t sue if the owner agreed to make repairs, bring the property into compliance and pay attorney’s fees of roughly $10,000 or more.
“It seems like it is extortion,” said building owner Mike Davis, who received a demand letter.
It’s not clear how many demand letters were sent to Portland-area businesses. Many property owners said they were told to keep things secret. And court records prove it.
A settlement agreement with Molligan showed that details about terms, conditions, and payments were to remain “strictly confidential.” The secret paperwork only became public after Molligan sued a business that didn’t pay her $6,000 in attorney’s fees.
KGW found a disproportionate number of the ADA lawsuits — about half — involved Asian-owned businesses, according to court records, state filings and interviews.
In response to KGW, attorney Jessica Molligan wrote in an email, “Asian businesses are not being targeted. That is beyond offensive.”
Molligan declined to provide further comment after a hearing in federal court last week. During the hearing, Slevin asked a judge to dismiss a pending lawsuit against a Portland property owner over alleged ADA violations and he asked to no longer be represented by Molligan.
“I’m trying to wash my hands of this whole situation,” Slevin told the judge.
Molligan had her law license suspended for 120 days in 2021 after she failed to keep her client informed about the status of a case. Records indicate the Oregon State Bar has received two complaints stemming from Molligan’s ADA demand letters and lawsuits.
