Capital Resorts Lawsuit against Stonegate Firm/Law

[TUGBrian]

some fascinating allegations in this lawsuit:

(forgive if the formatting is messed up, not sure what happened there but im just copy/pasting and not retyping all that)

Plaintiff CAPITAL RESORTS GROUP, LLC d/b/a CAPITAL VACATIONS (“Capital Vacations"), through undersigned counsel and pursuant to the applicable Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, hereby files this Complaint for Damages and Injunctive Relief against Defendants THE STONEGATE FIRM, LLC; CP ONLINE VENTURES, LLC ( together, the "Stonegate Firm"); BRADLEY POST ("Post"); ADAM COLBERT ("Colbert") (the Stonegate Firm, Post, and Colbert, together, the "Marketing Defendants"); STONEGATE LAW, LLC (“Stonegate Law"); and DENNIS DONOVAN (“Donovan") (Stonegate Law and Donovan, together, the "Legal Defendants") (Marketing Defendants and Legal Defendants, collectively, "Defendants") and state as follows:
I.
INTRODUCTION

1. The Marketing Defendants operate a fake law firm that charges consumers exorbitant fees in exchange for illusory services.

2. The Stonegate Firm represents to consumers that it will reduce or eliminate legal obligations that consumers owe to timeshare developers through the rendition of legal services.

9:25-cv-13124-BHH
Date Filed 10/24/25
Entry Number 1
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3. Despite its name, the Stonegate Firm is not a law firm.

4. Neither Post nor Colbert are attorneys.

5. Stonegate Firm's websites, stonegatefirm dot com and timeshareexit dot co , falsely suggest that the Marketing Defendants have the ability to provide legal services, thereby justifying exorbitant fees charged to unsuspecting consumers.

6. As further deception, Stonegate Firm's website utilizes fake, AI-generated, photographs of purported attorneys.

7. The Marketing Defendants deceive consumers into paying for services that the Stonegate Firm knows it cannot and does not provide.

8. The Stonegate Firm has no actual service of its own and no means to deliver its advertised services.

9. Instead of providing the advertised services, and in an effort to legitimize its scheme, the Marketing Defendants utilize the name of one or more licensed attorneys who they pay directly for their participation in the scheme.

10. Post and Colbert, individually, created the scheme at-issue in this matter and first utilized other lawyers to give the appearance of providing the advertised services.

11.Thereafter, Post and Colbert partnered with the Legal Defendants and created The Stonegate Firm, LLC to match Stonegate Law's name.

12. Stonegate Firm, which was created after the inception of the scheme, is the mere instrumentality and alter ego of Post and Colbert, who have directed the scheme both before and after the creation of Stonegate Firm and Stonegate Law.
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13. The choice to utilize these similar names, the Stonegate Firm and Stonegate Law, deliberately blurs the lines between the two entities and is inherently deceptive as it falsely justifies the fees paid to Stonegate Firm for legal services they do not, and cannot, provide.

14. In the course of their deception, and through communications with consumers, the Defendants interfere, without justification, with the contractual and business relationships between Capital Vacations and Capital Vacations' customers.
II.

15. Both Capital Vacations and consumers are harmed by the Defendants' practices.

 

[TheHolleys87]

In what venue was this filed? State, federal? it will be interesting to watch as it crawls its way through the system. I know not to expect rapid activity!

 

[TUGBrian]

some detailed claims in this one for sure...though nothing that should be a shock to anyone on TUG...it will be a real eye opener to the average consumer!

Stonegate Firm's False and/or Misleading Advertisements create the false impression that Stonegate Firm and or the Legal Defendants are capable of providing, and do provide, legal services that will reduce or cancel the CV Owners' debt associated with the
Timeshare Contracts.
75.
Neither Marketing Defendants nor Legal Defendants provide the debt reduction or
cancellation through legal services described in the False and/or Misleading Advertisements.
1.
Marketing Defendants Fail to Deliver Promised Services
76. Marketing Defendants do not offer the legal services described in the False and/or
Misleading Advertisements as:
a. Stonegate Firm cannot provide any legal services because it is not a law
firm;
b.
Post cannot provide any legal services because he is not a lawyer; and
77.
C. Colbert cannot provide any legal services because he is not a lawyer.

Instead of providing the services described in the False and/or Misleading
Advertisements, Stonegate Firm:
a.
b.
Provides template correspondence to CV Owners asserting boilerplate allegations and demands for cancellation of the CV Owners' Timeshare

Contracts for CV Owners to send to Capital Vacations (the "Template
Letters");
Sends boilerplate letters to Capital Vacations asserting that Stonegate Firm is "providing oversight and consulting" or similar non-legal services to the CV Owners in regard to the CV Owners' Timeshare Contracts and often with reference to prior Template Letters (the "Consulting Letters"); and
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Date Filed 10/24/25
Entry Number 1
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same.
78.
79.
C.
Causes letters to be sent in the name of the Legal Defendants supposedly on
the CV Owners' behalf to Capital Vacations suggesting that the Legal
Defendants are the CV Owners legal representatives (the "Demand
Letters").
The Template Letters assembled for each of the CV Owners are generally the same. The Consulting Letters assembled for each of the CV Owners are generally the
80.
The Demand Letters assembled for each of the CV Owners are generally the same. Marketing Defendants take no legally meaningful steps to bring about the debt reduction or cancellation through legal services as advertised in the False and/or Misleading
81.
Advertisements.
82.
2.
Legal Defendants Fail to Deliver Promised Services
Legal Defendants do not offer the legal services described in the False and/or
Misleading Advertisements as:
a. The Legal Defendants do not form an attorney-client relationship with any CV
Owners;
b. The Legal Defendants do not represent the CV Owners in formal litigation or
arbitration;
c. The Legal Defendants do not initiate or pursue any legal action against Capital
Vacations in any court;
d. The Legal Defendants do not represent the CV Owners in mediation involving a
third-party neutral mediator;
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Entry Number 1
Page 22 of 41
83.
e. The Legal Defendants do not negotiate on behalf of the CV Owners with Capital
Vacations;
f. Donovan is only licensed to practice law in New Jersey and, therefore, is legally
prohibited from rendering legal advice or acting as an attorney in any capacity to many CV Owners; and
g. Upon information and belief, the Legal Defendants do not meaningfully consider
the unique legal circumstances of each of the CV Owners.
Indeed, upon information and belief, only a portion of the fees that CV Owners pay
to the Marketing Defendants is shared with the Legal Defendants.
84.
Instead of providing the services described in the False and/or Misleading Advertisements, Demand Letters bearing Legal Defendants' names are sent to Capital Vacations. The Demand Letters employ vague language in describing the Legal Defendants' relationship to the CV Owners making it unclear whether Stonegate Law is acting as the CV
85.
Owners' attorney. Specifically:
86.
The Demand Letters do not explicitly say that the Legal Defendants are in a formal attorney-client relationship with the CV Owners; and

b. The Demand Letters use phrases like (a) Stonegate Law is "providing continued oversight and consulting" in regard to CV Owner's prior complaints, (b) Stonegate
Law "has been retained to provide legal oversight and consumer protection consulting" on behalf of CV Owners; or (c) that Stonegate Law "has been retained
in a consulting and legal oversight capacity."
Upon information and belief, the Demand Letters are purposefully vague as to the
status of any attorney-client relationship between the Legal Defendants and the CV Owners.

The Demand Letters generally ask for the same relief regardless of the specific CV
The Demand Letters are insufficient to relieve CV Owners of any financial
obligation related to their timeshare interest.
89.
Accordingly, Stonegate Firm (which is not a law firm) collects exorbitant legal fees of which only a portion are shared with an attorney licensed to practice in only one state, who himself fails to acknowledge that he has any attorney-client relationship with the consumers who have paid Stonegate Firm for legal representation and who takes no meaningful action to relieve the CV Owners of any debts associated with the Timeshare Contracts.
90.
As a result, the CV Owners never receive the legal services described in the False
and/or Misleading Advertisements from the Marketing Defendants or the Legal Defendants. 91. Ultimately, the Defendants collective efforts to deliver the advertised services are
substantially limited to sending boilerplate correspondence which hold no legal significance. Any reduction or cancellation of debt provided to CV Owners is provided by
Capital Vacations itself rather than any service that Defendants advertised and/or performed.
92.
G.
93.
Interference with Customer Relationships
Defendants' practices described above separate Capital Vacations from the CV
Owners who are the parties to the Timeshare Contracts, and in privity with each other.
94.
As a result of their interaction with CV Owners, either through the Advertising Practices or after CV Owners sign up for the Defendants' services, Defendants' actions cause CV Owners to cease payments owed to Capital Vacations pursuant to the Timeshare Contracts.
95.
The goal of Defendants' purported services is to reduce (potentially to zero) the
financial obligation that consumers owe to Capital Vacations.
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96.
As a result of the CV Owners ceasing payment to Capital Vacations, Capital Vacations suffers damages and CV Owners suffer injury including, but not limited to, the inability to utilize the benefits of their timeshare ownership and a decrease in their credit score.
97.
legal counsel.
98.
The Demand Letters create the false impression that CV Owners are represented by
Based on the ambiguous description of Legal Defendants' relationship with CV Owners, Capital Vacations is forced to treat such Legal Defendants as the CV Owners' legal representatives and engage with them through legal counsel.
99.
Practically, this separates Capital Vacations from the CV Owners and precludes Capital Vacations from continuing in their normal relationship and precludes Capital Vacations
from executing any further contracts with the CV Owners.

 

[TUGBrian]

In what venue was this filed? State, federal? it will be interesting to watch as it crawls its way through the system. I know not to expect rapid activity!

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA BEAUFORT DIVISION
Capital Resorts Group, LLC d/b/a Capital
Vacations, a Delaware limited liability company,
) Civil Action No.: 9:25-cv-13124-BHH
V.
Plaintiff,
The Stonegate Firm, LLC, CP Online Ventures,
LLC, Bradley Post, Adam Colbert, Stonegate Law, )
LLC, and Dennis Donovan, ESQ.,