Dear {full_name}:
This is an agreement (the “Agreement”) between you and Bryson Harris Suciu & DeMay PLLC (“Firm”) for legal representation regarding your claim(s) against Intuit Inc. or any of its affiliates or subsidiary companies (collectively, “Intuit”) arising from Intuit’s pricing, marketing, and sale of TurboTax online tax preparation services.
Specifically, your claim(s) arise from Intuit’s use of a “free” filing funnel that invites consumers to begin preparing tax returns at no cost, while later requiring payment to complete and file the return. Intuit structures the TurboTax product experience to impose mandatory paid upgrades only after users have invested substantial time entering sensitive financial information and progressing through the return preparation process. These acts and practices—inducing consumers to begin tax preparation under the expectation of free filing, then imposing unavoidable fees only after substantial sunk time and effort—may constitute unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq.; false and misleading advertising in violation of California’s False Advertising Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500 et seq.; and deceptive practices under the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1750 et seq., as well as other applicable federal and state laws.
You understand and authorize the Firm to proceed with filing your claim(s) as an individual arbitration or as an action in state or federal court. Arbitration is a simplified means of pursuing legal claims, where the claim is decided by an arbitrator rather than a judge or jury. You authorize the Firm to settle your individual claim(s) with Intuit for a reasonable amount and execute a release of your individual claim(s) on your behalf. However, this agreement also authorizes the Firm to settle and release your claim(s) as a part of a class action if Intuit chooses to do so. In the event that the Firm enters a settlement with your authority and you choose not to participate in the settlement, you may reject the settlement and the Firm may withdraw its representation of you. You further authorize the Firm to represent additional individuals who have claims that are the same or similar to yours against Intuit.
The Firm will handle this matter with a contingent fee of the greater of either forty percent (40%), as allowed by state law, of any recovery obtained in this matter or total attorneys’ fees awarded by the arbitrator or court or, alternatively, an amount to be negotiated with Respondent’s counsel. The Firm reserves the right to associate with co-counsel, but the fee will be split between the Firm and any additional firm(s) they associate with.
The Firm will advance all costs incurred by the Firm during this litigation (e.g., filing fees, travel, etc.). The Firm will be reimbursed for these costs if, and only if, they ultimately obtain a recovery on your behalf. Advanced costs are deducted after the calculation of the contingent fee.
The Firm will keep you informed about the progress of your claim as it moves forward. We will do so via phone calls, emails, and SMS messages. By signing this retainer agreement, you consent to the Firm calling and sending case-related SMS messages to the cell phone number you provided when signing up for representation. If at any time you no longer wish to receive phone calls from the Firm, you can email us at arbitration.clientcare@brysonpllc.com. Similarly, if you no longer wish to receive SMS messages from the Firm, you can reply “STOP” to any SMS message to opt out of receiving additional messages.
You authorize the Firm to withdraw from representation if they determine for sufficient reasons that your claim(s) should not continue. Regardless, the Firm will maintain the file on this matter for at least six years. If requested, these will be returned to you after the conclusion of the representation.
Finally, the Firm does not make any promises or guarantees regarding the outcome of your claim(s). If you have any questions about the foregoing, please advise. We would appreciate your returning a signed copy of this engagement letter to us for our files.
CERTIFICATION
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that I used TurboTax to prepare a tax return within the past three years, began my return in TurboTax’s free filing interface, and later paid a fee to upgrade in order to complete and file my return. I further certify that, if needed, I can and will produce evidence (for example, a receipt, confirmation email, or account screenshot) showing that I used TurboTax, began in the free version, and paid a fee to complete and file my return.
I further certify that I have not retained any other law firm(s) to pursue my claim(s) against Intuit and that I will not retain any other law firm(s) to do so. I understand that, if I do retain or have retained another law firm to pursue my claim(s), the Firm may terminate their representation of me in connection with my claim(s) against Intuit.
COMMUNICATIONS CONSENT
By signing this Agreement, the undersigned Client consents to the Firm keeping them informed about the progress of their claim by calling, emailing, and sending case-related SMS messages to the cell phone number that Client provided to the Firm when signing up for representation. Client understands that, if at any time they no longer wish to receive phone calls from the Firm, they can email arbitration.clientcare@brysonpllc.com. Client also understands that, if they no longer wish to receive SMS messages from the Firm, they can reply “STOP” to any SMS message to opt out of receiving additional messages.
Additionally, Client consents to the Firm calling, emailing, and sending them SMS messages concerning other matters, lawsuits, and investigations that may be relevant or of interest to Client.
PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE AND LITIGATION HOLD
The Firm is required by court rules and caselaw to document that Client has been provided with notice of a party’s continuing obligation to preserve evidence and electronically stored information (“ESI”). This communication, commonly referred to as a “litigation hold,” sets forth certain obligations relating to the preservation and maintenance of documents, ESI, and evidence in the case discussed in this retainer agreement (herein “the lawsuit”). The Firm is required to provide this information and to maintain a copy for its files. Please review this portion of the retainer agreement carefully and advise of any questions with regard to same.
By this communication, the Firm is advising Client (“you”/“your”) not to destroy, conceal or alter any relevant paper or electronic files and other data generated by and/or stored on your computers, mobile devices (such as mobile phones, iPads, etc.) and storage media (e.g., hard disks, floppy disks, backup tapes, flash/thumb drives), or any other electronic data, such as email, or data on social networking sites controlled by you. This also includes ESI on any cloud-based or third-party remote storage systems, such as, for example, Google Docs, the Amazon Drive, or any other third-party cloud storage systems.
Unfortunately, your failure to comply with this notice can result in severe sanctions being imposed for spoliation of evidence or potential evidence. All data destruction or deletion policies or settings that can potentially impact ESI or other evidence must be suspended or turned off, immediately.
As you know, the arbitration relates to Intuit (TurboTax) and your use of Intuit (TurboTax)’s website and/or mobile app, and information regarding same is important in the case. You need to preserve this information, although that does not mean that all of your social media information will be produced in the lawsuit.
Electronic documents and the storage media on which they reside contain relevant, discoverable information beyond that which may be found in printed documents. This data, referred to as metadata, contains information that can be obtained through discovery. Therefore, you may be asked for all documents in their electronic form along with information about those documents contained on the media or storage device. Please do not delete your Intuit (TurboTax) account, or any emails or other communications from Intuit (TurboTax).
With regard to electronic data created subsequent to the date of delivery of this letter, relevant evidence is not to be destroyed. Please take whatever steps are appropriate to avoid destruction of evidence.
If this correspondence is in any way unclear, please contact the Firm immediately. This litigation hold obligation will continue while the litigation is ongoing. The Firm will inform you when the hold expires. By signing this Agreement, you are confirming your understanding and commitment to abide by this duty to preserve the evidence.