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Law360 (January 19, 2021, 10:19 PM EST) -- A former Goosehead Insurance in-house attorney who was fired earlier this month for his apparent involvement with the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol has filed a suit on behalf of Donald Trump voters claiming that their rights were violated by coronavirus-inspired changes to voting rules.
Paul M. Davis' attorney caption in the Texas federal court case, which he filed on Monday on behalf of Latinos for Trump and Blacks for Trump, refers to him as "Former Associate General Counsel of Goosehead Insurance Inc. (Terminated after peacefully protesting) Now Solo Civil Rights Attorney." He is not a party to the suit.
The suit, which names all members of the new U.S. Congress as well as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, aims to halt the Wednesday inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and show how "pervasive changes" to election rules in every state in response to the COVID-19 pandemic violated the 2002 Help America Vote Act.
"This is not a Sidney Powell lawsuit," the complaint says in a footnote. "This is not a Rudy Giuliani lawsuit. This is not a Lin Wood lawsuit. This is not a Team Trump lawsuit. This is not a Republican lawsuit. This is not a Democrat lawsuit."
Davis did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The extent of Davis' involvement in the Jan. 6 riot is unknown, but a video that appeared on Davis' Instagram account, which was then made private, showed the Texas attorney standing outside the Capitol with others and included a caption saying he had been teargassed.
Goosehead Insurance shared the news about Davis' termination in posts on its Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts on Jan. 7, the morning after the mob violence.
Davis was an associate general counsel and human resources director at Goosehead Insurance, according to his Facebook page and Twitter posts identifying him from the riot. He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law, according to his Facebook account, and he's licensed to practice law in Texas.
Davis previously worked at Andrews Kurth LLP — which has since merged and taken on the name Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP — as well as Clark Hill Strasburger, according to court records.
After the riot, Davis wrote on Instagram: "For those of you claiming I was trying to 'storm the Capitol' it's obvious from my entire story that I was peacefully demonstrating. They gassed the entire crowd that was standing there with me. I was not trying to break in. Was just talking to the police officers and praying over them."
The mob broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6 while lawmakers were formalizing Biden's victory in the presidential election. Five people died from injuries suffered during the riots, including one woman who was shot by police.
When asked for comment about Davis, a representative for the State Bar of Texas said in an email earlier this month: "State law requires the State Bar of Texas to keep all disciplinary case information confidential unless it has been filed in district court or results in a public sanction. As a result, the bar is often unable to even discuss the existence of a grievance."
Goosehead Insurance has 10 corporate offices, including seven in Texas, according to its website.
The plaintiffs are represented by Paul M. Davis and Kellye SoRelle.
The case is Latinos for Trump et al. v. Pete Sessions et al., case number 6:21-cv-00043, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
--Additional reporting by Michele Gorman. Editing by Bruce Goldman.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
