TL;DR
- Shilo Sanders faces a new lawsuit for over $100,000 from Barnes & Thornburg LLP for unpaid legal services.
- This follows a 2023 bankruptcy filing due to a nearly $12 million personal injury judgment from high school.
- Sanders also faces allegations of breaking bankruptcy law through unauthorized transfers totaling approximately $250,000.
Shilo Sanders hasn't played a down since the preseason. Still, he continues to grab headlines.
Deion Sanders' 25-year-old son has encountered several legal difficulties lately. He added another on November 20th. The former Colorado safety is now subject to a lawsuit for over $100,000 from a law firm he reportedly approached seeking to reduce other legal expenses.
Following a 2023 bankruptcy filing due to a nearly $12 million judgment for personal injury awarded to a former security guard from when he was in high school, Sanders has faced difficulties since his release by the Buccaneers in August. A complaint filed in October by a trustee in his bankruptcy case further alleged that he broke bankruptcy law through unauthorized transfers amounting to approximately $250,000.
He's now facing another lawsuit he must fend off. Here's a rundown of the most recent legal challenge that has landed on Sanders' desk.
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Shilo Sanders' lawsuit, explained
Barnes & Thornburg LLP initiated legal proceedings against Sanders on November 17th, asserting that Sanders owes $164,000 in outstanding invoices and accrued interest. The law firm contends that Sanders did not fully settle their account for previous legal assistance.
The firm says Sanders sought its services to remedy various legal issues Sanders has faced, chief among them a personal injury lawsuit he was served in Dallas that prompted him to file for bankruptcy in Oct. 2023.
In that scenario, Sanders allegedly sought to eliminate close to $12 million in liabilities. A significant portion of this sum was due to a former security guard from Sanders' secondary school, who secured a default ruling against Sanders after alleging an assault that resulted in lasting harm when Sanders was a teenager.
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During pretrial hearings, Sanders asserted he was acting in self-defense. Nevertheless, when the case proceeded to trial in 2022, his absence resulted in a default judgment granting over $11 million to the former security guard.
The attorney representing Sanders in his case, affiliated with Barnes & Thornburg LLP, transitioned to a different law firm in August 2024, according to the legal filing. Sanders was notified by the firm that he remained liable for any unpaid debts. The lawsuit asserts that Sanders chose to end Barnes & Thornburg LLP's legal counsel and transfer to his attorney's new practice.
A declaration submitted to federal court in Dallas indicated that the company “delivered the legal services and incurred the costs reflected in the invoices between May 1, 2024, and Aug. 26, 2024, based on the agreement.”
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“Mr. Sanders, however, failed to pay the amounts reflected the Invoices presented to him, and has not tendered payment in response to Plaintiff’s efforts to obtain payment on the outstanding Invoices," the filing reads. "The total of the Invoices that Mr. Sanders currently owes Plaintiff is $164,285.55, including $10,967.91 in interest for the services provided and costs incurred.”
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