Baker Donelson [lawyers for Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and other major U.S. banks] sued for Fraud, Negligence, and Defamation

  United States, District of Columbia, Washington - 01/10/2020 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

Baker Donelson [lawyers for Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and other major U.S. banks] sued for Fraud, Negligence, and Defamation 

Baker Donelson General Counsel Sued For Illegal Email Threats To Injure The Reputation Of Plaintiff’s Lawyer In Violation of Federal Law

 

The $20M lawsuit accuses Baker Donelson of conspiring with one of its financial institution clients to illegally and fraudulently foreclose on the borrower’s property.

The borrower, Chester Davenport, alleged in a suit filed  in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia that Baker Donelson negligently and fraudulently attempted foreclosure against his personal residence. 

The suit alleges that Baker Donelson initiated foreclosure proceedings against Mr. Davenport’s residence prior to performing diligence to determine whether the foreclosure was legitimate causing Mr. Davenport significant damages. 

The suit further alleges that after performing its diligence Baker Donelson was informed by its client to not proceed with foreclosure against the property. Nevertheless, Baker Donelson falsely told Mr. Davenport that the firm, on behalf of its client, intended to immediately foreclosure against Mr. Davenport‘s residence. 

Mr. Davenport relied upon Baker’s false statements to his detriment. The suit alleges that Baker Donelson’s negligent and unlawful initiation of the foreclosure process coupled with its false statement that it intended to foreclosure against Mr. Davenport residence caused him monetary harm and severe emotional stress. 

 

The suit further alleges that Baker Donelson General Counsel, Samuel Blair, made email and telephonic threats to injure the reputation of plaintiff’s lawyer if he filed a lawsuit against Baker.

 

The following are excerpts from Mr. Blair’s email threats:

“This sentence is incorrect: ’Moreover, you also said that your client intends to seek attorney fees from Mr. Davenport if the case goes to court.’ I said we would seek all fees and expenses incurred if "you" filed this frivolous lawsuit and I meant "you" personally Mr. Jessamy.   I did not say we would seek any fees against Mr. Davenport. 

As far as fees we will seek to recover are concerned, my time will be part of the attorneys' fees requested against you personally.  We have already hired Williams & Connolly, which is an excellent firm and not inexpensive;  all fees incurred with Williams & Connolly will be included as well.”

 

Mr. Davenport said, “Mr. Blair’s threats are distributing and seem to be in violation of Federal law and the Canon of Ethics. We are asking the Court to make those decisions.”

 

Williams and Connolly’s decision to repeat Blair‘s threats and to email new threats is unfortunate and in violation of 18 USC §875(d) which is a felony.  

We will amend our Complaint to bring the new violation of the federal statute to the attention of the Court and the public. 

I have attached my bio to this release which compares favorably to Mr. Blair’s  bio and attests to my credibility. Neither Williams & Connolly nor Baker Donelson is above the laws of the United States of America.”

Chester C. Davenport is the Managing Director of Georgetown Partners, LLC, a private equity firm he founded 30 years ago.  Mr. Davenport served as the Executive Chairman of Basho Technologies, Inc.  He was Chairman of GTE Consumer Services, Inc., Georgetown’s $3.2 billion joint venture with GTE providing cellular service to consumers in the Greater Chicago and St. Louis metropolitan areas.  Mr. Davenport also served as Chairman of Envirotest Systems Corp., a publicly traded company on the NASDQ exchange.   

Previously, Mr. Davenport was appointed by President Carter and confirmed by the United States Senate as the Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs in the United States Department of Transportation.  He has worked in the United States Senate as a legislative assistant for Senator Alan Cranston of California and began his career as an attorney in the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice.
Mr. Davenport is a graduate of Morehouse College and received his LL.B from The University of Georgia School of Law.  He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the District of Columbia Bar.  Mr. Davenport serves as a trustee of The University of Georgia Foundation.

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