Morgan & Morgan

Morgan & Morgan is an American law firm. Founded in 1988 by John Morgan, it is headquartered in Orlando, Florida. While Morgan & Morgan was historically considered a firm focused on personal injury, medical malpractice and class action lawsuits, it also expanded practices to other areas of legal services. The firm has offices in 49 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.

Morgan & Morgan
TypeLimited liability partnership
IndustryLaw
FoundedNovember 22, 1988 (1988-11-22)
FounderJohn Morgan
Headquarters
Orlando, Florida
,
US
Number of locations
105 offices (2022)[1] in 49 U.S. states and Washington D.C.
ServicesPersonal injury, civil rights, class actions, medical malpractice
Number of employees
3000+ (2021),[2] including 800+ attorneys (2022)[3][2]
Websitewww.forthepeople.com

History

The law firm was established in 1988 by John Morgan and his partners Stewart Colling and Ron Gilbert.[4] From the start, the company has been headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

In 1989, the law firm began advertising on television and radio.[5] In 2005, Morgan bought out his partners' share of the company and renamed the firm "Morgan & Morgan", also adding his wife Ultima as partner.[6] As Orlando Sentinel quotes, "John Morgan and his partners had a fundamental difference over growth and expansion of the law firm throughout Florida at the time".[7]

By early 2000s, the firm expanded throughout Florida with 420 employees, and by 2013 the company had 260 attorneys among 1,800 staffers in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky and Manhattan.[4][5]

In January 2011, Charlie Crist joined the Tampa office of Morgan & Morgan after expressing an interest in returning to the legal field during his final week in office as governor of Florida. Crist worked primarily in the firm's class-action sector as a complex-litigation attorney, serving as a "rainmaker" for the firm.[8] In November 2016, after almost six years with the firm, he was elected to represent Florida's 13th congressional district.[9] In February 2018, Brad Slager of Sunshine State News cited evidence that Morgan & Morgan was "attempting to purge all evidence" of its relationship with Crist now that he was a "rookie congressman" with "little-to-no power".[10]

In 2018, the firm received over two million phone calls and signed up 500 new cases each day. That year, the firm collected $1.5 billion in settlements and spent $130 million nationwide on advertising. John Morgan was one of the first lawyers to advertise in phone books and television commercials.[6]

In 2021, Morgan fired half of his firm's marketing department. The staffing purge came in the wake of a controversial Morgan & Morgan national advertising campaign, "Size Matters," which was meant to convey the large scale of the firm, but was criticized as an inappropriate dick joke. The staffers who were fired had criticized the ad campaign's phallic implications.[11][12]

As of 2022, the law firm had over 3,000 employees, including 800 lawyers in 49 states.[2][3][1]

Notable cases

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

The law firm was successful in a major lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, the second-largest tobacco company in the U.S. (behind Altria) after years of litigation. The case was handled on behalf of the widow and son of Arthur Brown. Mr. Brown passed away due to complications related to tobacco use. Morgan & Morgan's attorneys contended that the client was misled by the tobacco company's marketing campaigns that promoted "safer tobacco products", and that the company "fraudulently concealed or conspired to conceal information about the long-term health effects" of smoking. The court ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company to pay $5 million in economic damages and $8.5 million in punitive damages to the family of the victim.[13][14][15]

Florida Amendments

2016 Florida Amendment 2 was a political and legal campaign to allow use of medical marijuana. In 2013, Morgan & Morgan launched the initiative to change the Florida Constitution to allow marijuana for medical purposes. The firm spent over $15 million to support the change and organized United for Care campaign to promote the "yes" vote.[16][17][18][19]

2020 Florida Amendment 2 was an initiative to promote an amendment to the Constitution of Florida that passed on November 3, 2020, via a statewide referendum. Morgan & Morgan was a major donor to the political committee Florida for a Fair Wage, donating the bulk of the $4.15 million raised by the campaign. The amendment required 60% of the popular vote to pass. As a result, hourly minimum wage in the state of Florida is set to increase to $15 by 2026.[20][21][22][23]

Exactis

The class action lawsuit against Exactis was filed by Morgan & Morgan, DiCello Levitt & Casey and Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd law firms in 2018 after alleged a data breach affecting 230 million Americans and 110 million businesses.[24][25]

Healogics Inc

After Morgan & Morgan filed a lawsuit, Florida-based Healogics Inc. agreed to pay $22.51 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that it knowingly billed Medicare for unnecessary services for its patients. The case was settled in 2018.[26][27][28]

Daytona Beach Rollercoaster

Morgan & Morgan, along with other law firms, represented many victims of the Sand Blaster roller coaster crash that occurred on June 15, 2018 on the Daytona Beach Boardwalk, when the roller coaster derailed causing a major incident.[29][30][31]

Bethenny Frankel vs TikTok Inc

The case Bethenny Frankel vs TikTok Inc was filed on October 6, 2022 with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York[32][33] after the former reality TV actress Bethenny Frankel learned that "her images and video content were being used to sell counterfeit products". The basis for the lawsuit was the technology of TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, that allowed users to create fake images and videos where Bethenny Frankel appeared promoting various goods and services in violation of Frankel's right of publicity.[34] As the Bloomberg Law cites: “Bethenny Frankel requested on behalf of herself and the unknown number of individuals nationwide whose personas were similarly misused that TikTok violated class members’ right of publicity and engaged in unfair competition; injunctive relief; order requiring TikTok to dispose of materials and copies of any materials that contain or reflect any information derived from Frankel’s and class members’ personas, voices, content, and/or likenesses.”[35] The class-action lawsuit and the issue of public rights and counterfeit products gained the attention of the major media outlets, including The Washington Post,[36] Reuters,[34] Bloomberg News,[35] The Hollywood Reporter[32] and Newsweek,[37] among many others.[38][39][40]

Chesapeake shooting

Following the mass shooting incident at a Walmart Supercenter in Virginia, employees filed two $50 million lawsuits against the company. According to the plaintiffs, Walmart neglected its obligations to ensure staff safety, as complaints were made repeatedly to corporate management regarding the harassing and violent behavior of the shooter during his employment.[41][42]

Equifax data breach

The Equifax data breach occurred in 2017 at the American credit bureau Equifax. Private records of 147.9 million Americans along with 15.2 million British citizens and about 19,000 Canadian citizens were compromised in the breach, making it one of the largest cybercrimes related to identity theft. In a settlement with the United States Federal Trade Commission, Equifax offered affected users settlement funds and free credit monitoring.[43][44] Class action lawsuits have been filed. [45][46]

Aliso Canyon gas leak

Aliso Canyon gas leak (also called Porter Ranch gas leak[47]) was a massive natural gas leak in the Santa Susana Mountains near Porter Ranch, Los Angeles. Discovered in October 2015,[48] gas was escaping from an oil well within the Aliso Canyon underground storage facility.[49] This second-largest gas storage facility of its kind in the US belongs to the Southern California Gas Company (SoCal Gas), a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. In 2021, as a result of the largest environmental tort agreements in California, SoCal Gas and its parent company pledged to pay $1.8 billion to settle more than 35,000 claims brought by residents and businesses impacted by the gas leak.[50]

Ohio train derailment

A train derailment occurred on February 2023, when 38 railroad cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Several railcars burned for more than two days, with emergency crews then conducting a controlled burn of several railcars which released hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air.[51]Residents within a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius were evacuated, and an emergency response was initiated from agencies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. A lawsuit was soon filed. [52][53]

Political involvement

Morgan donated to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.[54] Morgan gave $355,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in August 2020.[55] Morgan is close to Joe Biden's younger brother, Frank Biden. Morgan flew Frank Biden to Joe Biden's inauguration in his private jet. Morgan said he talked to Frank Biden about job opportunities at Morgan & Morgan.[55]

Morgan & Morgan contributed $1.5 million toward a proposed Florida constitutional amendment to raise the hourly minimum wage to $15. Orlando Weekly reported that some employees at Morgan & Morgan made less than $15 per hour. When questioned by Orlando Weekly, Morgan said that many of his call center employees start out with a $25,000 annual salary.[56]

References
  1. "Office locations". Official website.
  2. Kennedy Wynne, Sharon (October 21, 2021). "5 questions for John Morgan on law firm's jingle contest". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  3. "Morgan & Morgan lawyers". Morgan & Morgan.
  4. "John Morgan: The bombastic, omnipresent lawyer fueling Florida's 2014 election | Tampa Bay Times". Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  5. Barnett, Cynthia. "Profile: John Morgan Unplugged". Florida Trend.
  6. "50 Most Powerful People – John Morgan". Orlando Magazine. July 2, 2019.
  7. Boyd, Christopher (February 23, 2005). "MORGAN, COLLING & GILBERT BREAKS UP". Orlando Sentinel.
  8. Matt Dixon, Charlie Crist: Touted as attorney for Morgan & Morgan, but hasn't been in court, Naples Daily News (July 21, 2014).
  9. "New Member: Democrat Charlie Crist Elected in Florida's 13th District". Roll Call. November 9, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  10. Slager, Brad. "Is Morgan & Morgan Trying to Memory-Hole Charlie Crist?". Sunshine State News. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  11. Wolf, Colin (May 27, 2021). "John Morgan's marketing department argued over a nationwide dick joke. Half of them were later fired". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  12. Varn, Kathryn (October 7, 2021). "St. Petersburg billboards battle over whether bigger is better". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  13. "Morgan & Morgan obtained a $13.5 million verdict – $8.5 million in punitive damages and $5 million in compensatory damages – in a case against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company". Memphis Chamber.
  14. "Morgan & Morgan Lands $13.5M Verdict Against Cigarette Titan R.J. Reynolds". For The People.
  15. "Morgan & Morgan Wins Five Jury Awards For Plaintiffs in Past Week". Leaders in the Law. July 20, 2017.
  16. Leusner, Jim (July 2, 2019). "50 Most Powerful People – John Morgan". Orlando Magazine.
  17. "Florida medical marijuana amendment debate". FOX 13 News – Tampa Bay. October 13, 2014.
  18. "Florida medical marijuana debate (Part 1)". WESH 2 News. October 22, 2014.
  19. Richardson, Matthew (November 9, 2016). "John Morgan shares details, timeline for medical marijuana businesses". Orlando Business Journal.
  20. Caputo, Marc (October 18, 2017). "Morgan pledges $1M for 'living wage' fight". Politico.
  21. "John Morgan contributes another $154,000 in minimum wage campaign". Tampa Bay Times. May 11, 2018.
  22. "Orlando attorney John Morgan spent $1 million in July on Florida's fight for minimum wage".
  23. "John Morgan says he has enough signatures to get $15 minimum wage on the 2020 ballot". October 29, 2019.
  24. "Legal firms file lawsuit over data breach that allegedly compromised personal data of 230 million US citizens". Indivigital.
  25. "Florida Class Action Claims Exactis Breach Affects 230 Million Americans". Law.com.
  26. Reddan, Darcy (June 18, 2018). "Wound Care Center Operator Pays $22.5M To Settle FCA Suit". Law360.
  27. Hayes Tucker, Katheryn (June 18, 2018). "False Claims Case vs. Florida Wound Care Center Operator Settles for $22.5M". Law.com.
  28. Scanlan, Dan (June 20, 2018). "Healogics agrees to pay multimillion-dollar settlement". Jacksonville.com.
  29. Ganley, Michelle (June 15, 2018). "Roller coaster derails in Daytona Beach, throws 2 riders 34 feet to the ground". Click Orlando.
  30. Tutten, James (June 18, 2018). "Local attorney launches investigation into Daytona Beach roller coaster derailment". WFTV.
  31. Smith, Harley (June 18, 2018). "Attorney: Daytona Beach roller coaster victims may have lifelong injuries". Clickorlando.
  32. Cho, Winston (October 6, 2022). "Bethenny Frankel Sues TikTok Over Scam Ads Hijacking Her Likeness". The Hollywood Reporter.
  33. "BETHENNY FRANKEL, on behalf of herself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, v.TIKTOK, INC., Defendant". Bloomberg Law - Court dockets. October 6, 2022.
  34. Brittain, Blake (October 6, 2022). "TikTok sued by former 'Real Housewife' over unauthorized ads". Reuters. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  35. Steinberg, Julie (October 6, 2022). "TikTok Sued for Unlawful Use of Bethenny Frankel's Persona". Bloomberg Law.
  36. Lorenz, Taylor (October 6, 2022). "Bethenny Frankel sues TikTok over ads she says misused her image". The Washington Post.
  37. Power, Shannon (October 10, 2022). "Bethenny Frankel Takes On TikTok: 'I Was Violated'". Newsweek.
  38. Cohen, Rebecca (October 6, 2022). "Bethenny Frankel is suing TikTok over ads that she says used her video and image to sell counterfeit products". Business Insider.
  39. Spangler, Todd (October 7, 2022). "Former 'Real Housewives' Star Bethenny Frankel Sues TikTok, Alleging App Profits From Scammers Stealing Her Likeness". Variety.
  40. Coffey-Behrens, Kelly (October 6, 2022). "Bethenny Frankel Files Class Action Lawsuit Against TikTok". The Blast.
  41. El-Bawab, Nadine; Barr, Luke. "Walmart employee complained about suspect's behavior months before mass shooting: Lawsuit". ABC News. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  42. Larche, Jessica (December 6, 2022). "Second lawsuit filed against Walmart after mass shooting in Chesapeake". News 3 WTKR. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  43. "Data from Equifax credit hack could "end up on the black market," expert warns". CBS News. February 11, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  44. "Four Members of China's Military Indicted Over Massive Equifax Breach". The Wall Street Journal. February 11, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  45. Egan, John. "Five Years After The Equifax Data Breach, How Safe Is Your Data?". Bankrate. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  46. "Yanchunis Named to Equifax Plaintiffs' Steering Committee". classaction.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  47. Gregory J. Wilcox (December 15, 2015). "LA County declares state of emergency over Porter Ranch gas leak". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  48. Sharon McNary (10 February 2016) Sorting out Porter Ranch facts vs. rumors
  49. Abram S (December 19, 2015). "Two months in, Porter Ranch gas leak compared to BP Gulf oil spill". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved December 27, 2015.
  50. "Southern California Gas to Pay $1.8B to Resolve 35,000 Claims Over Gas Leak". The Recorder. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  51. "Ohio catastrophe is 'wake-up call' to dangers of deadly train derailments". The Guardian. February 11, 2023. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  52. Robertson, Campbell (February 24, 2023). "In Town Where Train Derailed, Lawyers Are Signing Up Clients in Droves". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  53. Duer, Benjamin. "Norfolk Southern released 1.1M pounds of vinyl chloride after derailment, lawsuit alleges". USA Today. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  54. Chozick, Amy; Martin, Jonathan (September 3, 2016). "Where Has Hillary Clinton Been? Ask the Ultrarich". The New York Times. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
  55. Korecki, Natasha (January 28, 2021). "'For Christ's sake, watch yourself': Biden warns family over business dealings". Politico. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  56. Wolf, Colin (November 2, 2017). "John Morgan is pushing for a $15 minimum wage in Florida, but some employees at his companies make less". Orlando Weekly. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
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