Thousands of Mann Bracken cases have been dismissed, but will anyone re-file? 

Posted: 7:16 pm Mon, January 18, 2010
By Caryn Tamber
Daily Record Legal Affairs Writer

The demise of Mann Bracken LLP has left an enormous hole in Maryland’s debt-collection law firm landscape.

Industry giant Mann Bracken, which is going out of business, had tens of thousands of open cases in Maryland. The chief judge of the district court dismissed them all last week without prejudice because Mann Bracken stated that it could not access the case files and might not be able to find substitute counsel.

But many of the cases might be eligible to be re-filed, leaving open the question of who will make that call and do the legwork.

The managing partner of another big Maryland debt-collection firm said his office will handle at least some of Mann Bracken’s former cases.

“We’ve already been contacted by some of their clients to do that,” said Sidney S. Friedman of Weinstock, Friedman & Friedman P.A. in Baltimore.

Friedman said his lawyers will review the files to see whether they are within the statute of limitations. Even if they are and can be re-filed, the lawyers will confer with the clients to see whether they even want to continue to pursue their claims.

He said he expects a “humongous” number of electronic files to come his way.

Other collections lawyers contacted by The Daily Record either did not return calls for comment or said they were not vying for Mann Bracken’s old cases because they would not be a good fit.

For example, Edward S. Cohn of Cohn, Goldberg & Deutch LLC in Towson said his firm handles mainly local clients, not the national ones Mann Bracken represented. Additionally, Cohn said his own firm, unlike Mann Bracken, sticks to collection work and does not buy up debt itself.

The path to demise

Mann Bracken’s demise was accompanied by troubles both financial and regulatory.

The Maryland State Collection Agency Licensing Board investigated a significant Mann Bracken client, the Midland family of debt-buying companies, in 2009 for multiple violations of debt-collection laws.

Last September, the state suspended Midland’s collection agency license. In December, without admitting the state’s allegations, Midland agreed to pay Maryland $1 million, get properly licensed and follow all collection laws.

At the same time, Delaware-based Axiant LLC, which provided Mann Bracken’s support services, such as phone service, computers and staffing, ran into financial trouble. Axiant filed for bankruptcy in November but intended to sell its assets. When the sale fell through late last month, the company decided to liquidate instead.

Mann Bracken was Axiant’s largest unsecured creditor.

At the beginning of January, Mann Bracken sent letters to district court clerks in Maryland notifying them that it would shut down and asking for stays or dismissals in its cases. It also stopped accepting payments from debtors, and its phones were shut off. Those developments led the licensing board to suspend Mann Bracken’s collection agency license.

Last week, District Court Chief Judge Ben Clyburn dismissed all of Mann Bracken’s cases.

According to published reports, Mann Bracken now says it will file for bankruptcy or seek to be placed into receivership.