At Carney Bates & Pulliam, Lee devotes his practice to representing consumers in class litigation. In recent years, he has focused on bringing breach-of-contract claims against insurance companies for undervaluing policyholders’ totaled vehicles and bringing various statutory claims against financial institutions for collecting illegal fees from mortgage borrowers.
Lee is currently class counsel to eleven certified litigation classes:
- Williams v. LoanCare, LLC (S.D. Tex.) (summary judgment granted in favor of the class on liability)
- Freeman v. Progressive Direct Ins. Co. (D.S.C.) (Lee handled oral argument)
- Reynolds v. Progressive Direct Ins. Co. (N.D. Ala.)
- Curran v. Progressive Direct Ins. Co. (D. Colo.)
- Schroeder v. Progressive Paloverde Ins. Co. (S.D. Ind.)
- Costello v. Mountain Laurel Assurance Co., (E.D. Tenn.) (report & recommendation that class certification be granted)
- Drummond v. Progressive Specialty Ins. Co. (E.D. Pa.)
- Brown, v. Progressive Mountain Ins. Co. (N.D. Ga.)
- Davenport v. Progressive Direct Ins. Co. (Ohio Ct. Common Pleas, Cuyahoga Cty.) (Lee handled oral argument)
- Chadwick v. State Farm Mut. Ins. Co. (E.D. Ark.)
- Clippinger v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. (W.D. Tenn.) (Lee handled oral argument).
Lee’s work has led to favorable resolutions for the classes he represents. His more recent settlements include:
- Volino v. Progressive Cas. Ins. Co. (S.D.N.Y.) ($48,000,000 settlement granted preliminary approval)
- Donley v. S. Farm Bureau Ins. Co. (Craighead Cty. Ark. Cir. Ct.) ($1,150,000 settlement granted preliminary approval)
- Torliatt v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC (N.D. Cal.) ($7,000,000 settlement following the court’s granting of plaintiff’s motion for class certification, which Lee argued)
- Caldwell v. Freedom Mortgage Corporation (N.D. Tex.) ($2.25 million settlement granted final approval)
- Phillips v. Caliber Home Loans, Inc. (D. Minn.) ($5,000,000 settlement granted preliminary approval and waiting on final approval).
- Cole v. Freedom Mortgage Corporation (Burl. County, NJ) ($650,000 settlement granted final approval).
- Zuern v. IDS Property Casualty Insurance Co. (W.D. WA.) ($1.75 million settlement granted final approval).
Lee also has an active appellate practice. He has successfully brought, or defended against, Rule 23(f) petitions in the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits. And he has taken lead in briefing appeals of class certification decisions currently pending in the Sixth and Ninth Circuits.
Before joining CBP, Lee clerked for the Honorable D.P. Marshall Jr., United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas and then spent several years practicing at a prominent Arkansas defense firm.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock (J.D., High Honors); University of Arkansas at Little Rock (B.A.)
Licensed in Arkansas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas, (2013)
Arkansas Bar Association; American Association for Justice
Carney Bates & Pulliam PLLC