T LeMont Silver stiffs his Zeek lawyers out of $5000+

Despite stealing over two million dollars from Zeek Rewards victims, it seems T LeMont Silver can’t rub together $5000 to pay his lawyers.

In an effort to combat clawback litigation filed against him, T LeMont Silver, through another attorney of his in Texas, sought to engage the legal services of James, McElroy and Diehl.

Now, almost a year later, James, McElroy and Diehl have filed a Motion To Withdraw from the case, citing non-payment and a lack of communication from Silver.

In a filing made on the 3rd of March, James, McElroy and Diehl explain

On June 27, 2014, James Jonas, an attorney in San Antonio, Texas, contacted (James, McElroy and Diehl) to assist Jonas in representing T. Lemont Silver, Karen Silver and Global Internet Formula, Inc.

Jonas planned to serve as lead counsel for Mr. and Mrs. Silver and Global.

On that date, (James, McElroy and Diehl) agreed to serve as local counsel with Jonas to serve as lead counsel and be “responsible for all the heavy lifting”, and Mr. and Mrs. Silver and GLobal agreed to promptly provide (James, McElroy and Diehl) an initial retainer of $5,000, and to regularly pay (James, McElroy and Diehl’s) bills for related expenses and legal fees at (James, McElroy and Diehl’s) normal hourly rates (with a retainer to be available to apply toward such legal fees and expenses).

Based on the agreement between (James, McElroy and Diehl) and Mr. and Mrs. Silver and Global, (James, McElroy and Diehl) began to provide services and incur expenses related to (James, McElroy and Diehl’s) role as lead counsel.

However, the initial retainer was never paid despite repeated promises, and (James, McElroy and Diehl’s) bills to Mr. and Mrs. Silver and Global for legal expenses and fees have never been paid.

The total amount now substantially past due to (James, McElroy and Diehl) now exceeds $5,000.

Mr. and Mrs. Silver and Global have failed to pay any of the legal fees and expenses of (James, McElroy and Diehl) related to this matter.

Why Silver (right) has not paid James, McElroy and Diehl is a mystery. Ditto whether his other attorney, James Jonas, has been paid on time and if so, how much.

Whether there’s any funny business between Jonas and Silver going on I can’t say, but it certainly sounds like Jonas himself might be experiencing similar problems with his client:

Further, Mr. and Mrs. Silver have been generally unavailable to (James, McElroy and Diehl) since (James, McElroy and Diehl) began this representation.

(James, McElroy and Diehl’s) only real contact has been with Jonas, who has been unable to cause Mr. and Mrs. Silver and Global to pay amounts owed to (James, McElroy and Diehl).

In addition, at several critical junctures related to the representation, Jonas has reported that needed activty or responses related to the lawsuit could not proceed because he was unable to obtain needed payment, cooperation and information from Mrs. and Mrs. Silver and Global.

Citing the above, James, McElroy and Diehl claim that they ‘cannot reasonably represent Mr. And Mrs. Silver and Global further with respect to the lawsuit‘.

One party who has been able to get in contact with Silver recently is the Wall Street Journal. In response to queries about his involvement in Zeek Rewards last December, Silver told the publication that

he is a marketer with little knowledge of the business operations of the companies he promotes.

“Yet in my chosen field, greedy law firms…and others confront us with bankrupting litigation and regulatory actions.”

Whether Silver was specifically referring to James, McElroy and Diehl is unclear. If he was though, labeling a law firm greedy for requesting payment on the rendering of agreed services does seem a bit harsh.

It is believed Silver is currently still hiding out in the Dominican Republic. Following the SEC shutdown of Zeek Rewards in 2012, Silver relocated there with family.

It is thought Silver believed there he would be safe from clawback litigation, which would see him forced to return the funds he stole from Zeek Rewards victims.

The clawback litigation filed against Silver is still playing out in court.

Footnote: Our thanks to Don@ASDUpdates for providing a copy of James, McElroy and Diehl’s Motion To Withdraw.