Authors: Brian M. Felgoise and David Tabasky

Publisher: Speaking Volumes, Inc





Brian M. Felgoise has been an attorney practicing class-action law for over twenty-five years, including cases where tons of greenbacks have been recovered for class members who lost substantial sums of money. David Tabasky has written several novels.

With Book One of the Filthy Rich Lawyers: The Education of Ryan Coleman, they have crafted a tale about a young brash Philadelphia attorney, Ryan Coleman, who finds himself over his head when he becomes enmeshed with a superstar, filthy wealthy class-action attorney, Randy Hollis.

The narrative takes off when Coleman shows up in the East Cabell Federal Courthouse in Dallas to collect his fees for a class-action litigation. This was Coleman’s first significant securities class action, and he was resolved to ensure his claim, which was two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. He had succeeded in getting the defendants, because of their actions, to compensate two and a half million dollars to the plaintiff, which had caused the plaintiff to pay their attorneys five million dollars. What’s a million here or there? Representing Coleman in the Dallas courtroom is a local attorney, Bill Waterman, who was serving as an appointed attorney, as Coleman was not certified to practice law in Texas.

Before the onset of the proceedings, Waterman orders Coleman that whatever crops up in the court processes, he is to shut up and not speak unless spoken to by the judge. As we read on, this soon will develop into prudent advice. Coleman doesn’t obey Waterman’s advice and addresses Judge Brenda Glynn without obtaining her permission. The judge admonishes Coleman on his gall to talk out of turn and questions how he reached his fee. She approves Coleman’s fees at the end of her storm of humiliating remarks.

His time in a Texas courtroom was just the introduction to his education in the world of “legal mumbo jumbo, courthouse theater and massive settlements, with unheard-of rewards for the filthy rich lawyers and other players in a system that enable it all to thrive.”

Watching all of this unfold is the legendary hot-shot Attorney Robert Smalley, who was so fascinated with Coleman’s chutzpah in persuading the judge that he deserved his fees that when the two meet the next day, he charms him by saying: kid, “you got balls.” And this would be the beginning of Coleman’s inauguration into a universe he could merely fantasize about. It would be one that transformed his life, not necessarily for the better, despite all the money and extra perks he would enjoy. Every moment of his new life would test his moral code of ethics. So Coleman tells himself, yes, he might have balls, but if by becoming entangled in this decadent world, did he have brains?

Impressed with Coleman’s court shenanigans, Smalley invites him to meet him for a night on the town in New York City. After quite an evening of dining and wining, Smalley commits to work closely on future cases.

A few weeks later, Coleman meets Smalley in Miami, where he promises to introduce him to the illustrious Randy Hollis. Coleman asks Smalley when he will meet Hollis, to which Smalley replies, “in due time”-an expression he would reiterate many times in the future dealing with several of Coleman’s queries.

As Collis will quickly learn, Hollis is thoroughly ferocious and thinks nothing of bumping other lawyers out of the way to take over important class-action cases. His existence is one in which beautiful women, unscrupulous and periodically spooky criminal conduct, are ingrained in his soul. When he sees something he craves, look out. He takes no hostages! In addition, Hollis was hell-bent on acquiring the AFL football team, the Los Angeles Flash; however, during his crusade to procure the franchise, he had become implicated in some serious criminal charges laid against him.

One of Coleman’s tasks was to make certain the owners of the other AFL teams accepted the acquisition. If you are speculating what task Smalley, Hollis, and others have in store for Coleman, he is to become “the fixer.” Sound familiar? Michael Cohen and Trump?

In the end, what we have is a caustic narrative rich in humorous episodes that are frequently surreal. Yet, there is something to be said about the hidden theme of the tale where, in the realm of class-action attorneys, there is very often disregard for the plaintiffs’ interests with the awarding of millions of dollars. Who frequently benefits the most from these settlements? The lawyers stride away with dumbfounding fees, leaving very little to their clients.

Stay tuned for book two.