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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Herman</p>           Borrowers who sued Dean Morris law firm of Monroe and lenders it represented in foreclosures propose to settle their class action claims.<br />  <br />U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval called off two hearings on Nov. 17, as all sides nailed down terms borrowers offered at a conference in October.<br />  <br />He delayed a hearing on a motion to strike class claims and allegations until March, and he continued a hearing on summary judgment motions without a date.<br /> <br /> He pushed the parties toward settlement on Oct. 18, by denying a motion from plaintiffs to convert claims under state law to claims under federal law.<br /><br />  Gary Gambel of New Orleans filed the suit in Orleans Parish against the Dean Morris firm and lawyers John Morris, George Dean, Candice Courteau and Charles Heck.<br /><br />  He also sued Dean Morris clients Chase Home Finance, Washington Mutual Bank, Countrywide Home Loans, and Aurora Loan Services.<br /><br />  The suit claimed Dean Morris lawyers helped lenders collect <br />excessive fees.<br /><br />  Defendants removed it to federal court three times and Duval remanded it three times.<br /><br />  The third time, Fifth Circuit appeals judges in New Orleans reversed him and directed him to preside over the case.<br /><br />  They held that intervention of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver for Washington Mutual turned it into a federal case.<br /><br />  Gambel petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision, and the Supreme Court denied the petition in July.<br /><br />  When the case returned to Duval, Dean Morris counsel Stephen Herman moved for summary judgment and claimed plaintiffs showed no damage.<br /><br />  Two reaped windfalls in settling foreclosures, he claimed.<br /><br />  \"Dean Morris only billed its clients in reasonable amounts,\" he <br />wrote.<br /><br />  Shannon Holtzmann of New Orleans filed similar motions for Chase <br />Home Finance.<br /><br />  Duval set hearings in September but postponed them at a conference in August.<br /><br />  Countrywide Home Loans, unwilling to wait for settlement, moved for separate final judgment in its favor in September.<br /><br />  Duval granted the motion in October.<br /><br />  Gambel sought to adjust to federal jurisdiction by amending the complaint to assert federal claims his original suit disavowed.<br /><br />  Duval ruled he couldn't do that after remanding it to state court twice for the very reason that it disavowed federal claims.<br /><br />  He declared Gambel's amendments futile.         "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://louisianarecord.com/stories/510580660-borrowers-propose-to-settle-class-action-against-dean-morris-law-firm>