Law firm must pay up after losing suit against woman who wrote bad online reviews

Photo: Google The Law Offices of Tuan A. Khuu and Associates lost a lawsuit...

Threats of a lawsuit didn't stop Lan Cai from writing negative online reviews of the Law Offices of Tuan A. Khuu and Associates.

Now, four months later, a judge has dismissed the $100,000 to $200,000 lawsuit against Cai, 20, and ordered Khuu to pay her nearly $27,000 in attorney fees.

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Houston attorney Michael Fleming represented Cai in the case and commended her for not backing down.

"This woman is a part-time student and got threatened with a lawsuit after the first review," Fleming said. "But she stuck with it and wouldn't take the reviews down."

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Representatives at Tuan A. Khuu and Associates declined to speak on the case.

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Cai hired the law firm over the summer to represent her after she was hit by a drunk driver. When she felt Khuu and Associates failed to work with her after taking on her case, Cai wrote negative reviews online.

"...they came to my house and into my house and into my room to talk to me when I was sleeping in my underwear! Seriously, it's super unprofessional!" Cai wrote in a June 30 Facebook post. "Not only that, they also put a lien on all 3 insurances including my own."

In a July 7 Yelp review, Cai wrote, "When I try to reach them, no one would answer my call or email. I was so lost with my insurance, I didn't know what to do with my car."

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Fleming said the lawsuit was a strategic lawsuit against public participation, known as SLAPP. Texas has an anti-SLAPP law called the Texas Citizens Participation Act, which protects people from getting sued for online speech.

"You see this in a number of cases across Texas, it's not uncommon," Fleming said of lawsuits relating to online postings. "What you don't really see is a law firm suing someone for reviews."

Fleming said people who are afraid of repercussions for posting negative reviews and opinions online should remember that "the law is there to protect them."