Minneapolis lawyer Paul Hansmeier has been pointed to as one of the masterminds behind Prenda Law, a law firm that has sued thousands of people for allegedly downloading pornographic films, earning the moniker of "copyright troll."

But earlier this year, Prenda ground to a halt after being slapped with sanctions, orders to pay defendants' legal fees, and accusations that it actually planted the porn movies it later sued over.

Last week, it emerged that Hansmeier has found a new business. He's been suing small businesses, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Minnesota's Human Rights Act. At least five such cases have been moved into federal court in Minnesota, and they're all against small businesses accused of not making their websites easy to use by disabled people.

The defendants include Bancwest Investment Services, Life Wellness Center, Healtheast Care Systems, and Eagle Lake Family Dentistry. A fifth defendant, Wally's Sports and Clothing, was sued based on alleged ADA violations in its physical store rather than its website. The lawsuits have been published by Techdirt, which reported the ADA lawsuits last week.

In suing these companies, Hansmeier appears to be pursuing a small-scale version of a legal trend that recently received some national attention. In 2006, the National Federation of the Blind sued Target, saying that the Target.com website was a place of "public accommodation" that must comply with the federal law on disabilities. Target settled the case in 2008, creating a $6 million fund for settlement claims and agreeing to change its website.

More recently, the National Association of the Deaf sued Netflix on similar grounds. That case settled last year, when Netflix agreed to offer closed-captioning on all of its videos by 2014.

Both of those cases were featured in a Wall Street Journal story published in March—just when Prenda Law entered full-scale collapse, dismissing its cases and trying in vain to avoid sanctions.

Neither the Target nor Netflix case was fully litigated to a decision, and legal experts are divided about whether the ADA can be properly applied to websites.

Disabled website tester “had no idea”

Last weekend, a small Minnesota newspaper published an article showing that Hansmeier's own disabled clients don't know what he's up to.

Lily Poss, a visually impaired woman who was recruited by Hansmeier as a "tester," was never told that Hansmeier would be suing the websites she was looking at. The Mankato Free Press reported:

Poss had no idea that lawsuit, nor another one involving a business called Bancwest Investment Services, had been filed in her name. It was her understanding she would be providing information about websites that would be used to educate businesses, she said. She said it was possible that lawsuits would be filed if businesses didn't comply, but she didn't realize Hansmeier and Class Justice would be going after small businesses such as Family Dentistry.

The other tester-plaintiff is Flint Million, a friend of Poss. Poss was convinced to help out when her cousin, Alan Mooney, reached out to her. Mooney was linked to some Prenda lawsuits earlier this year and pled ignorance, but the new developments suggest he has continued to work with Prenda-linked lawyers.

"I had no idea it would turn into this," Poss said. "My cousin just called me one day and said, 'I have something that can be quite profitable for you if you are interested. All you have to do is we will send you a list of websites and we have a list of questions we are going to ask you." Prior to that call, she hadn't talked to Mooney for years.

Later, Poss expressed regret about the activities she had been involved in. "It's something I want to be legitimate," she said. "I do believe larger businesses should be targeted, not small businesses. I don't go to Eagle Lake for anything, and I wouldn't have gone to the website if it wasn't on the list." Update: Hansmeier has since dropped Lily Poss' ADA lawsuit against Bancwest Investment Services.

Hansmeier: “This is the right way”

Ars contacted Hansmeier yesterday by telephone to inquire about the ADA cases. Before any questions were asked, Hansmeier said "no comment," and disconnected.

Hansmeier did talk to the Mankato Free Press, however. He said that in addition to the filed lawsuits, about a dozen businesses have received letters warning them they could be sued if they don't respond to the demands of his new law firm, Class Justice.

He went on to explain to the Free Press that he has no involvement with Prenda and insisted his lawsuits over violations of the ADA and the Minnesota Human Rights Act are not frivolous.

"We consider ourselves to be an advocacy association more than we consider ourselves a law firm," Hansmeier said. "With the porn reputation, I wanted to shift my focus and focus on something more positive. We're really focused on doing it right so anyone who hears about us says, 'Yeah. This is the right way to go about it.'"