CONSUMER ALERT: Texas Families Demand Legislative Reforms to Prevent Others from Falling Prey to the Arbitration Trap

Ongoing Houston Investigation Reveals Arbitrator Misconduct, Malpractice Insurance Gaps, and Contingency Fee Abuses — Advocates Call on Texas Lawmakers to Act

Houston, Texas, June 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- An ongoing investigative series documenting alleged legal abuse in Texas inheritance battles has produced a concrete set of legislative demands from advocates at Stop Legal Bullying, LLC, as the families at its center say their experiences in Harris County probate cases reveal systemic failures that Texas lawmakers have the power to fix

Caroline and Richard Allison, whose probate case has been at the center of the Damn Lawyers investigative series by Wayne Dolcefino of Dolcefino Media, say their fight has exposed an arbitration system engineered against ordinary Texans — and they are now taking that message directly to state lawmakers.

"What we've uncovered isn't one rogue arbitrator; it's a system with no guardrails, no public records, and no accountability,” said Wayne Dolcefino. “Lawyers know exactly how to exploit every inch of it, and Texas needs to change that now."

The Allisons sued their lawyers, Nicholas Abaza, Jorge Borunda, and Michael Trevino, for what the family alleges is fraud and deceiving them into an agreement that gave the lawyers a majority share of their inheritance. Their malpractice case was decided not by a jury, but by a private arbitrator— Dallas-based Anne Ashby. Ashby ruled the Allisons owed their lawyers more than four million dollars, including interest and penalties.

The Allisons are now pursuing a rare Bill of Review before Harris County Judge Corey Sepolio, asking the court to throw out the arbitration award on grounds of fraud. The Allisons say Ashby failed to make several important disclosures that would have exposed conflicts of interest that would have warranted Ashby to recuse herself from taking on this case.

"After we discovered and uncovered the fraud, why wasn’t there an auto vacatur?” said Caroline Allison. “We are still trapped in a case headed to the Supreme Court of Texas—and the Supreme Court has to consider a case born from a fraudulent proceeding. Something is deeply wrong with a system like this.”

A Pattern of Alleged Arbitration Abuse: Four Known Victims of Anne Ashby

Following the emergence of new victims of Abaza, Borunda, and Trevino, the investigation has also four known alleged victims of arbitrator Anne Ashby, all describing the same pattern: conflicts of interest downplayed or concealed entirely, disclosure obligations ignored, and rulings that appear to have been written by the opposing party themselves. Significantly, Ashby was removed from the AAA roster as of last fall, following complaints filed by litigants in her proceedings.

Philip Floyd, featured in earlier episodes of the Damn Lawyers series, was among the first to corroborate Ashby’s alleged pattern. Eric Colton and Mark Logsdon have both also come forward.

Logsdon says he was also subjected to rigged arbitration by Ashby in a whistleblower dispute against his former employer. Logsdon alleges that his own attorney—George Flint—advised him to sign the employment contract containing the arbitration clause. Flint later became General Counsel for Logsdon’s former employer, highlighting a clear relationship that took priority over the client’s well-being.

Ashby irresponsibly disclosed a potential conflict with opposing counsel in Logsdon’s case just nine minutes before the arbitration began, leaving him no meaningful opportunity to understand the implications of the conflict or request Ashby’s recusal.  

Logsdon also alleges that Ashby winked at opposing counsel during the proceeding and that her final ruling was nearly identical—95%—to what the opposing party had proposed, raising serious questions about whether the outcome was predetermined.

"She winked at opposing counsel right in front of us, and nobody did a thing about it,” said Mark Logsdon. “That's not arbitration, that's a performance. And I lost everything because of it."

Advocates say the pattern across all four victims is not consistent with legal error. According to legal experts, when an arbitrator repeatedly fails to disclose material relationships, issues awards mirroring one party's submissions, and conducts proceedings in ways that substantially prejudice the opposing party, those facts may support vacatur under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 171.088 and FAA § 10 — on grounds of evident partiality, misconduct, and action beyond the arbitrator's authority. As one legal analysis framed it: arbitration finality does not protect fraud, concealment, or proceedings infected by undisclosed conflicts. When a neutral arbitrator acts like a fixer, the award should not stand.

Other victims of Ashby are encouraged to come forward and share their story at https://stoplegalbullying.com/victims-of-anne-ashby/.

The Legislative Agenda: Four Reforms Texas Needs Now

The investigation has surfaced four specific legislative failures that advocates say leave Texas consumers unprotected. Allison and other arbitration reform advocates are urging the Texas Legislature to act on all four in the next session:

• Robin's Law: Ban Contingency Fees in Probate and Inheritance Disputes - A prohibition against contingency fee arrangements already exists for lawyers in divorce and custody matters. Robin's Law would extend that ban to probate and inheritance cases, where the investigation found that lawyers' advice was driven by what was good for their fees, not their clients.
• Texas Attorney Complaint Preservation Act — The State Bar of Texas currently keeps a record of only 8% of all complaints and does not make complaints publicly available. This Act would require the State Bar to retain all bar complaints and make them accessible to the public, so Texans can make informed decisions about who they hire.
• Mandatory Malpractice Insurance for Lawyers - The investigation revealed that two of the three lawyers at the center of this case — Borunda and Abaza — claim to carry no malpractice insurance. In Texas, HVAC installers, plumbers, real estate inspectors, and most medical professionals are required to carry liability insurance. Lawyers are not. Texans harmed by their attorneys are left with no recourse if their lawyer carries no coverage.
• Arbitration Fairness Act — Family & Probate Edition: Ban mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses in attorney retainer agreements for probate, trust, and estate matters. Restore Seventh Amendment jury trial rights and consumer protections to families navigating inheritance disputes. Allow consumers to opt out of any arbitration clause at any time, for any contract, giving them meaningful choice in dispute resolution.
• Auto Vacatur Upon Discovery of Fraud: If fraud is discovered at any point — including after an award is issued and appellate deadlines have passed — the award should be automatically subject to vacatur. The current system forces fraud victims into extraordinary proceedings like the Bill of Review while a fraudulent award remains in force. Victims of arbitration fraud should not have to fight their way to the Texas Supreme Court to access the most basic principle of justice: that a judgment procured by fraud is no judgment at all.

Background: The Ongoing Investigation

The Damn Lawyers investigative series by Dolcefino Media has documented the widening allegations across multiple episodes, all available on YouTube.

Episode 1 — Damn Lawyers: Allison Family Probate Case

Episode 2 — Rigged Arbitration: The Stench of Cronyism

Episode 3 — A Deception

Episode 4 — The Probate Plot

Episode 5 — The Arbitration Trap

Media Availability

Caroline Allison and Wayne Dolcefino of Dolcefino Media are available to speak with the media about the legislative reform agenda, the ongoing Bill of Review proceedings in the Allison case, and the broader implications for Texas consumers.

###

CONTACT: Stop Legal Bullying, LLC
[email protected]