Ford Motor filed a major lawsuit last week alleging rampant lawsuit abuse and fraud from Quill & Arrow, a law firm that files thousands of Lemon Law cases every year against Ford and other automakers.
The lawsuit accuses Quill & Arrow of "fabricated attorney billing records, unauthorized practice of law, and deliberate obstruction of Ford’s ability to fulfill its warranty obligations." According to the automaker, these actions have damaged Ford’s relationship with its customers and erode future sales.
In the complaint, Quill & Arrow is described as “a fraudulent and illegal billing factory, conceived and constructed to exploit the Lemon Law’s fee-shifting provisions.”
The lawsuit alleges a number of violations under California law, including artificially-inflated attorney fees. The firm is allegedly using unregistered foreign attorneys to practice law in California while billing at California attorney rates for work performed entirely by non-lawyers. The non-lawyers are making as little as $13 per hour, Quill is billing rates of $350 to $950 per hour.
In five years, the firm has allegedly filed more than 20,000 cases under California’s Lemon Law, also known as the Song-Beverly Act. These lawsuits have cost Ford some $100 million, half of that, $50 million went to attorneys' fees.
“While California’s ‘Lemon Law’ was originally intended to provide consumers quick resolution for defective vehicles, a handful of law firms have created a cottage market abusing the law to target perceived deep pockets for their own gain,” said Lauren Sheets Jarrell, vice president and counsel for civil justice policy at ATRA.
In the lawsuit, Ford notes that it considers the California Lemon Law to be the most pro-consumer law in the country. Still, Quill exploits the system.
The lawsuit outlines the scheme as two-fold. On the “front end,” Quill recruits Ford vehicle owners through deceptive advertising and coaches them to conceal the firm’s involvement. Quill allegedly scripts their communications with Ford to avoid triggering the automaker’s repurchase obligations, and instructs owners to ignore repurchase offers. These tactics are designed to prolong litigation and exposure to civil penalties from which Quill, not its clients, primarily benefits. In many instances, Quill has allegedly filed lawsuits without client knowledge or consent.
On the “back end,” Quill fabricates billing records it submits to Ford and to courts. Quill’s billing department takes time entered by overseas virtual assistants—sometimes referred to as “bots”—and domestic non-attorney staff for a variety of tasks and reallocates the time for those tasks to licensed California attorneys who never performed the work. Instead of actual time sheets, Quill creates billing records that are “utter fabrications,” allegedly.
On June 1, 2026, Ford demanded that Quill repay the automaker, but the lawsuit says the firm has refused to comply. So, Ford filed the lawsuit to recover the fraudulently acquired funds and stop Quill from future unlawful conduct.
Sheets Jarrell added, “It is time to hold those accountable who have created predatory lawsuit mills that manipulate the law to line their own pockets while families foot the bill. When law firms treat courts like a lottery, the entire civil justice system loses its integrity.”
According to Reuters, Ford is currently appealing a separate lawsuit against other California lawyers that was dismissed in March. In those allegations, a single lawyer billed more than 57 hours in a single day.
