Ft. Bend County state rep. charged with barratry

  Pooja Lodhia

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A state representative from Fort Bend County spent some time in jail overnight. Ron Reynolds is accused of illegally soliciting legal cases.

State Rep. Reynolds bonded out at 12:30am. His bond was set at $5,000.

The representative was arrested and charged with barratry, which is basically ambulance chasing or case running. It's when attorneys approach people, asking to represent them, possibly paying or harassing them.

Representative Reynolds is a managing partner at Brown, Brown, and Reynolds, which is based in Bellaire. He specializes in several types of law, including personal injury, Social Security disability and family law. The representative is also a former municipal judge.

He is the past president of the Houston Lawyers Association and he's an adjunct professor at Texas Southern University.

If he is found guilty, the representative could be forced to pay up to $10,000 in fines. He can also lose his license to practice law.

Just last year, the Texas Legislature passed a statute making barratry a civil infraction, too. So civil suits could be filed as well.

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