The firm has denied all wrongdoing and maintained its lawyers \u201coperate with unwavering integrity, prioritizing client welfare.\u201d The firm said through a spokesperson that DTLA rejects most cases that filter through its office and could not discuss specific clients due to \u201cthe constraints of attorney client privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving said that, no one in the firm to our knowledge has coerced its clients or anyone else to sign anything,\u201d DTLA said in a statement. <\/p>\n
The Times confirmed Dunlap had a lawsuit filed by DTLA through records that detail the firm\u2019s clients in the L.A. County settlement. Like most sexual abuse cases, all of DTLA\u2019s lawsuits were filed using only the plaintiff\u2019s initials.<\/p>\n
Dunlap, a 30-year-old fashion stylist, says he wanted to report the firm, but wasn\u2019t sure how. On July 28, 2025, Dunlap sent an email to a law firm he found online, saying he wanted representation against DTLA and help filing a State Bar complaint about \u201can attempt to include me in a class action settlement without consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told I needed to sign settlement paperwork for a case supposedly tied to a juvenile claim. I made it clear multiple times that I had no memory of this case, did not authorize representation, and stated firmly: \u2018I don\u2019t want to be part of this \u2014 take me off the case,\u2019\u201d he wrote in the email.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite this, I was told I could not leave because \u2018it\u2019s more complicated than that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Dunlap said he never moved forward with trying to file a case against DTLA. <\/p>\n
![\"Melvin](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774434435_461_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Melvin Dunlap, a 30-year-old fashion stylist, says his name was used to file a false claim of sexual abuse against L.A. County.<\/p>\n
(Ronaldo Bolanos \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Dunlap has brought a few cases to DTLA over the last five years. Court records show the firm represented him in 2021 after, he says, he slipped in a trail of mop water at a hotel during a trip to visit his uncle. He got about $1,700 for that one, he says. He called the firm again after moving to L.A. last year after a driver ran over his foot.<\/p>\n
In July 2025, he says, the firm called him and asked him to come to its downtown office on Broadway to discuss his case. He assumed there had been progress suing the driver over his foot injury.<\/p>\n
Instead, he said, he was shepherded into a glass office where a thin man in a baggy suit named Alex told him to sign three packets of documents. Nobody explained what they were, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m from the hood \u2014 you don\u2019t just sign anything. So, I get to reading the papers and it\u2019s talking about some juvenile delinquent California … case. And I\u2019m like, I\u2019m not even from California,\u201d Dunlap said. \u201cI\u2019m from St. Louis. I ain\u2019t ever been to juvie a day in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, he said, the man kept insisting that he had.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018y\u2019all got the wrong thing. I called y\u2019all about a little foot case,\u2019\u201d Dunlap said. \u201cHe brushed it off. He was like \u2018Nah, nah, nah it\u2019s okay, just sign this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
After the county agreed to the $4-billion settlement<\/a> in April 2025, every person who sued needed to sign an agreement opting into the settlement, as well as a fact sheet, detailing the abuse they underwent as a youth, in order to be eligible for the payout. Each case is eligible for up to $3 million, with attorneys pocketing between 33% and 45% in fees.<\/p>\n Dunlap said one document he was asked to sign appeared to be a questionnaire about abuse while the other was some sort of settlement agreement.<\/p>\n The county said it could not comment on whether DTLA submitted any additional documents for Dunlap, such as the fact sheet, after the July 25 exchange due to a \u201cprotective order and the confidentiality provisions of the settlement agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n Dunlap\u2019s account deepens questions around how DTLA, a high-volume personal injury firm known for representing injured drivers, acquired so many sex abuse plaintiffs \u2014 and whether some may be unknowing participants.<\/p>\n The Times located 10 people represented by DTLA in the sex abuse settlement who, like Dunlap, had previously used the firm for a personal injury lawsuit. <\/p>\n Before any money is disbursed, former presiding Superior Court Judge Daniel Buckley is vetting the firm\u2019s cases<\/a> and interviewing people whose accounts raise red flags. The L.A. County district attorney\u2019s office has also asked for a six-month delay<\/a> in making payments and recently sent letters to law firms detailing hundreds of plaintiffs it believes need further vetting, according to a spokesperson for the district attorney.<\/p>\n Dunlap said he refused to sign the paperwork and tried to leave. But he said the man insisted Dunlap see the \u201cbossman\u201d and left him in the glass room for about five minutes as he went to get a higher-up.<\/p>\n Dunlap said he had no interest in meeting the boss. <\/p>\n \u201cAt this point, it\u2019s like a million thoughts racing through my head,\u201d recounted Dunlap. \u201cI\u2019m like, damn, is he going to go grab the police? Am I going to go to jail? I gotta get the hell out of this office.\u201d<\/p>\n The man came back and ushered Dunlap into the elevator to go to an office upstairs. Dunlap said he pressed the down button as the man hit the one to go up. The elevator hit the bottom floor and Dunlap says he rushed out.<\/p>\n Downtown LA Law Group is currently under investigation by the State Bar and the District Attorney. The firm said they were unaware of anyone at the firm coercing clients into signing anything. <\/p>\n (Carlin Stiehl\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Andrew Morrow, DTLA\u2019s main attorney working on the sex abuse cases, later texted Dunlap a photo of what appears to be a retainer agreement with the firm dated Sept. 29, 2024, with a signature and Dunlap\u2019s name printed underneath, according to screenshots of text messages reviewed by The Times. <\/p>\n Dunlap said he does not recognize the signature on the document and never signed a retainer for a sex abuse case. The firm said in a statement it uses \u201celectronic processes to verify signatures.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWhat the hell is wrong with y\u2019all,\u201d Dunlap texted Morrow after the encounter. \u201cI couldn\u2019t even get a real apology just more pressure about signing sum papers I denied to sign over n over.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI told yall it wasn\u2019t me over n over n over I demanded to leave over n over,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n Morrow said he would dismiss the lawsuit, but warned Dunlap he was \u201cgiving up a lot of money from the bad people you said hurt you.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit had not been dismissed as of March 23, leaving Dunlap part of the $4-billion settlement. <\/p>\n Dunlap says he has no interest in the money and believes it should go to real victims. All he wants, he says, is for the lawsuit to go away.<\/p>\n \u201cSo how do I get my name out?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melvin Dunlap says he doesn\u2019t know how he became a plaintiff in the nation\u2019s largest sex abuse settlement.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":680511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,6517,15158,17286,41119,182328,19834,8055,2961,379,224,5337,2089,1812,3546,18746,10495,133248,637],"class_list":["post-680510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-case","tag-client","tag-document","tag-dtla","tag-dunlap","tag-firm","tag-l-a-county","tag-la","tag-lawsuit","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-man","tag-office","tag-people","tag-plaintiff","tag-settlement","tag-signature","tag-times"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116289343089072217","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774434437_185_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n