Lemberg Law, LLC v. Egeneration Marketing, Inc et al
Filing
47
RULING (see attached) denying 20 Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint and granting in part and denying in part 39 Defendants' Motion to Disqualify Appearing Counsel for Plaintiff and the Plaintiff Law Firm. Signed by Judge Charles S. Haight, Jr. on May 29, 2020. (Dorais, L.)
Case 3:18-cv-00570-CSH Document 47 Filed 05/29/20 Page 1 of 59
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT
LEMBERG LAW, LLC,
Civil Action No.
3:18-cv-570 (CSH)
Plaintiff,
v.
EGENERATION MARKETING, INC.;
CHRISTOPHER G. IANNELLA; DANIEL
F. MUMMOLO AND DOES 1-10
INCLUSIVE,
Defendants.
MAY 29, 2020
RULING ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS THE AMENDED COMPLAINT
[DOC. 20] AND MOTION TO DISQUALIFY APPEARING COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF
AND THE PLAINTIFF LAW FIRM [DOC. 39]
Haight, Senior District Judge:
I. BACKGROUND
In this action for unfair business competition, Plaintiff Lemberg Law, LLC (herein "Plaintiff"
or "Lemberg Law") seeks to recover damages arising from Defendants' operation of a website called
"stopcollections.org" ("Website").1 Defendant eGeneration Marketing, Inc. ("eGeneration") operates
the Website for the purpose of "matching lawyers who focus their practice on filing claims under the
federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA")[, 15 U.S.C. § 1692, et seq.,] with consumers
who are interested in engaging a lawyer for assistance with such a claim." Doc. 39-1, at 2.
In Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint (also herein "FAC"), the currently operative
1
Defendants in this action include eGeneration Marketing, Inc., and its President,
Christopher G. Iannella, and CEO, Daniel F. Mummolo. Doc. 1, ¶¶ 4-6. They will be referred to
collectively herein as "Defendants." eGeneration's principal place of business is located at 326 A
Street, Unit 1A, Boston, Massachusetts. Id. ¶ 6.
1
Case 3:18-cv-00570-CSH Document 47 Filed 05/29/20 Page 2 of 59
complaint, Lemberg Law states that it is a "limited liability company" with its principal place of
business located in Wilton, Connecticut. Doc. 19, ¶ 3. It operates as "a consumer law firm" that
represents clients in FDCPA cases. Id. ¶ 11. Lemberg Law alleges that it has advertised its legal
services related to FDCPA for over 12 years and has done so by maintaining websites at
www.lemberglaw.com and www.stopcollector.com, which advertise their legal services nationwide,
including the Connecticut market, with respect to FDCPA claims and other consumer law claims.
Id. ¶¶ 12-13.
In contrast, eGeneration, a company in the business of generating leads for lawyers and law
firms with respect to FDCPA claims, is not a law firm but allegedly "holds itself out, by and through
its Website (www.stopcollections.org), as a provider of legal service with respect to FDCPA claims."
Id. ¶¶ 14-15.
Plaintiff alleges that through its Website, eGeneration markets to actively solicit potential
FDCPA clients, thereby "substantially affect[ing] interstate commerce." Id. ¶¶ 16-17. Moreover,
Plaintiff points out that eGeneration
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