The Arizona Attorney General’s Office filed a Motion to Dismiss this week of more than 1,000 open lawsuits filed by a serial litigator that targets Arizona businesses. Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities flooded state courts with more than 1,700 lawsuits against Valley businesses earlier this year.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office characterized the lawsuits as copy-and-paste allegations against businesses’ parking lots did not comply with regulations related to persons with disabilities. Many of the issues were minor and easily fixable, but the lawsuits sought thousands of dollars in damages and attorneys’ fees.
“Abusive litigation practices harm our community,” said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. “These shakedowns strain our collective resources and damage our faith in well-meaning laws and public institutions.”
In September, a court granted AZAG’s Motion to Consolidate and stay every open AID state case, and ordered AID to stop filing complaints. Our motion filed today seeks to dismiss the more than a thousand open AID lawsuits on the basis of AID’s lack of standing. Some courts have sanctioned AID for these lawsuits and a federal judge recently questioned whether AID’s attorney “has engaged in a pattern of professionally unethical conduct.”