Chase Bank has marked its territory in TCPAWorld.com!  Last year, Chase was sued in New Jersey for alleged auto-dialer violations. Chase answered by asserting an unclean hands defense.  Chase pursued a subpoena on the plaintiff’s law firm – M. Harvey Rephen & Associates – for documents and a deposition.  Harvey Rephen telephoned counsel for Chase to tell him he was out of the country and wouldn’t be able to sit for a deposition.  Chase filed an action in New York to compel the Rephen Firm.  The Court fined the Rephen firm $100 a day for non-compliance, to spike to $500 per day if they continued to not produce documents and their corporate representative.  The Rephen Firm chose to ignore this.  Chase doubled down, fully briefed the issue again and requested the sanctions.  

“The story continued to unfold,” the court narrated. After Chase filed against the Rephen Firm, the plaintiff in the underlying New Jersey proceeding had testified she moved out of the country, and dismissed her case.  The court terminated the TCPA action, but kept Chase’s outstanding sanctions motions alive.

The New York court held a conference before judgment.  Counsel for the Rephen Firm repeated the same excuse, namely that Harvey Rephen was out of the country, only adding that recently business was slow, and the Rephen firm wouldn’t be able to cough up Chase’s accrued sanctions.  Chase moved on them for $231,441 in attorneys’ fees, as well as $23,400 in sanctions.  Chase additionally applied for a writ, and an order that the Rephen Firm must provide an accounting of assets to satisfy judgment if necessary.

The result: Chase won the $250,000, and the court is ensuring Chase gets relief, keeping an asset seizure if the judgment is not satisfied on the table.  Rock solid victory!