CONSUMER ALERT: Texas Families in Estate Disputes – Beware of Predatory Lawyers

One family’s experience with attorneys Nick Abaza, Jorge Borunda, and Michael Trevino offers a cautionary example for Texas consumers navigating probate and estate disputes.

Houston, TX, March 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stop Legal Bullying Now, LLC today announced that Texans navigating estate and probate disputes during moments of grief and vulnerability are warned to proceed with extreme caution when hiring legal counsel, especially when contracts include mandatory arbitration clauses that eliminate the right to a jury trial, according to one Texas family.

The warning comes as the investigative team at Dolcefino Media today released Damn Lawyers, a detailed look into how one family’s inheritance story tells a cautionary tale about predatory lawyers motivated by greed, coercive legal tactics, and how arbitration can shield attorneys from accountability.

Caroline and Richard Allison, siblings who lost their father after a long battle with dementia, were seeking clarity and protection regarding their father’s estate. Instead, they say, they were pressured into high-stakes litigation by their lawyers Nick Abaza, Jorge Borunda and Michael Trevino, that ultimately benefited their pockets more than the Allison’s.

The Allisons say their experience highlights risk many families don’t discover until it’s too late, including:

• Being pressured into litigation without being apprised of every potential downside

• Coercion tactics by attorneys to convince clients to sign costly contingency agreements. In the Allison case, this fee arrangement would ultimately ensure their lawyers received a higher percentage of their father’s estate than they would.

• Losing access to your first amendment right to a fair trial through mandatory arbitration clauses buried in legal agreements

According to the investigation, the Allisons say they were pressured to pursue aggressive legal action against their stepmom without being fully informed that:

• The trust structure their attorneys told them to challenge actually protected their family from severe tax consequences

• A loss in a trial could permanently erase not only their inheritance, but future generations’ rights to the estate

“Families assume their lawyers are protecting them,” said Caroline Allison. “We didn’t realize until much later that their interests had nothing to do with our well-being, and everything to do with how much money they could take from my dad’s trust."

The dispute eventually led the Allisons to file a legal malpractice claim against Nick Abaza, Jorge Borunda and Michael Trevino, but due to a binding, hidden mandatory arbitration clause, their claim never reached a jury.

Once arbitration began, the family says that they were trapped in a process that allowed their lawyers to avoid any accountability, handpick their arbitrator and give the family nearly no ability to challenge an unfair ruling in their case.

A part two of Dolcefino Media’s expose will be released soon, and will take a deeper look into the Allison’s experience with corrupt system and biased arbitration judge.

By raising awareness of their case, the Allison’s are urging families to be wary of legal strategies that escalate conflict without a clear benefit—especially when those decisions financially benefit the lawyer— and to ensure you have truly independent counsel before signing any contingency or arbitration agreements.

“This isn’t just our story,” Allison said. “It’s a warning. If it can happen to us, it can happen to anyone who’s grieving, overwhelmed, and trusting the wrong people. These attorneys Nick Abaza, Jorge Borunda, and Michael Trevino have a playbook to take financial advantage of families during their deepest grief.”

New Texas Legislation Needed:

As a result of this experience, the Allison’s are pushing for change in the state of Texas. Caroline has already submitted four proposed resolutions ahead of a new legislative session.

• Robin’s Law – The Texas Family Integrity and Probate Fairness Act: Extend the existing prohibition on contingency fees used in divorce and child custody matters to the broader family category, including probate, inheritance, and estate disputes.

• Texas Legal Consumer Protection and Attorney Accountability Act: Require attorneys licensed in Texas to maintain legal malpractice insurance of at least $500,000 or an amount commensurate with the value of the legal matters they undertake.

• Texas Attorney Complaint Transparency and Record Preservation Act: Require the Texas State Bar to permanently retain all bar complaints filed against licensed attorneys as part of the attorney’s disciplinary record, even if the complaint is dismissed.

• Texas Attorney-Client Arbitration Fairness Act: Require that any arbitration clause in attorney-client agreements be entered into with informed consent. Clients must be advised in writing to seek independent legal counsel, be given a reasonable opportunity to consult that counsel, and sign a separate written disclosure acknowledging the rights being waived before arbitration can be enforced.

Caroline Allison is available to speak on the record as part of a broader consumer-education effort tied to the investigative video series.

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Stop Legal Bullying Now
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