Ford sues – Ford has filed a federal lawsuit against a prominent Los Angeles lemon law firm, alleging it inflated fees by as much as 7,000% using billing Ford says was built on “utter fabrications.” The company also accuses the firm of using non-lawyers overseas to proces
For Ford, the fight over “lemons” has never been just about defective cars—it’s been about who gets paid when the cases multiply.
In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, Ford Motor Co. sued Quill & Arrow, a prominent Los Angeles lemon law firm, alleging the company inflated its fees by as much as 7,000%. Ford’s complaint says the money came from billing records it describes as “utter fabrications.”
Quill & Arrow, a personal injury firm that represents drivers suing over so-called “lemons”—vehicles with significant, unfixable manufacturing flaws—has long been a target for Ford. Since 2021, Ford said it has paid the firm more than $100 million, roughly half in attorney fees.
Ford alleges Quill & Arrow built those fees through an operation that blended mass case-processing with a presentation of legal work that Ford says didn’t match reality. The complaint says the firm used an overseas “army” of low-paid. non-lawyers to help file thousands of lemon lawsuits. then billed as though California attorneys did the work—at rates as high as $950 per hour.
Ford goes further. It alleges that much of the work was done by non-lawyers in countries including Mexico and the Philippines, who Ford says were paid as little as $13 per hour.
Quill & Arrow rejects the accusations. Founded in 2019 by attorneys Kevin Jacobson and Jonathan Shirian. the firm says on its website it touts recovering $500 million in lemon law payouts. In a statement. the partners called Ford’s lawsuit “nothing more than an attempt to silence firms who would dare to hold them responsible and seek justice for consumers.”.
“It grossly mischaracterizes the facts and the claim that Quill & Arrow created fabricated attorney billing records is absurd,” the firm said.
The lawsuit lands in the middle of a legal structure California built to protect consumers. California’s lemon law is widely seen as one of the strongest in the country: it allows drivers to get a refund or replacement if a manufacturer can’t fix a broken car. If the driver isn’t satisfied, the driver can sue.
When the driver wins. the fee framework lets attorneys collect their fees from the car maker rather than taking a percentage of the client’s winnings. unlike common arrangements in personal injury cases. Ford argues that difference has transformed the law into a profit engine for plaintiff attorneys. and that the longer a case drags on. the more a firm can reap.
Ford says the firm intentionally slowed down clients’ cases to increase billable hours. The complaint also alleges Quill & Arrow instructed drivers not to communicate with Ford and pushed them toward filing a lawsuit.
Doug Lampe, counsel at Ford, said the legal system is failing to rein in what he described as abuse. “California’s Lemon Laws are in need of reform and the courts need to exercise more oversight. given the fraud we continue to expose. ” Lampe said in a statement. He added that the law is “being blatantly abused by the lemon law plaintiffs lawyers. the bar is not policing its own and the courts need to monitor fee awards with far more skepticism and scrutiny.”.
In another line from his statement, Lampe said, “The cases have become about the lawyers for the lawyers.”
Ford’s filing comes as California’s lemon litigation has surged. Lemon law cases have exploded in the state over the last decade—from about 4. 500 cases in 2015 to roughly 30. 000 in 2024. according to an analysis from the Assembly Judiciary. Officials had warned that the volume could “cripple the entirety of California’s civil justice system.”.
In 2024, California’s legislature tightened the state’s lemon law, requiring additional steps before a driver could sue. Ford says the change did little to curb the surge: lemon lawsuits surged to record levels in the year that followed.
The new lawsuit also marks a second wave of offense from one of the nation’s largest automakers in Southern California. In May 2025, Ford sued a cohort of local lemon law firms, accusing attorneys of collecting at least $100 million in “phantom legal fees” by billing for hours they never worked.
That earlier case was brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. Ford alleged lawyers worked together to file a flurry of fraudulent cases with billable hours that defied logic. Ford cited an example involving an L.A.-based firm. Knight Law Group. where Ford alleged a partner once billed an “ostensibly heroic but physically impossible” 57.5-hour workday.
Knight Law Group denied inflating its billing, calling the suit a “thinly veiled attempt to silence firms who would dare to hold them responsible and seek justice for consumers.”
A judge threw out Ford’s RICO case in March. saying lawyers were protected under the First Amendment from being sued for the content of their lawsuits unless Ford proved fraud. Ford says it plans to appeal. After Ford found issues involving the Knight Law Group case. Ford alleged that Quill dedicated a team to “scrubbing” its own timesheets of “impossible time entries.”.
Now the central question has moved forward to a new firm, and to a new set of numbers. Ford is arguing the fee system is being gamed through alleged fabricated billing. while Quill & Arrow is countering that Ford is trying to silence firms that pursue claims on behalf of consumers. The dispute is set against a backdrop where lemon cases keep growing—and where the cost of that growth is now being argued in court in dollars. minutes. and hours.
Ford Quill & Arrow lemon law California attorney fees federal lawsuit RICO consumer protection Los Angeles