After Brian “The Strong Arm” Loncar died of a cocaine overdose shortly following his daughter’s suicide in 2016, Clay Jenkins allegedly began forcing his way into becoming the owner of Loncar’s lucrative legal practice, according to court documents filed by members of the family.
The issue of settling Loncar’s estate devolved into an extended legal battle that stretched across several lawsuits, some of which continue to this day. The Dallas Express reviewed hundreds of pages of court filings in these cases spanning from 2017 to 2022, which allegedly show Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins maneuvering his way into selling himself the firm of the dead Brian Loncar.
Loncar’s will originally designated his father, Phil Loncar, to be the executor of his estate and the trustee of the trust he had set up to handle the dissolution of the firm in the event of his death. However, shortly after Brian Loncar died, Clay Jenkins allegedly offered his services to Phil Loncar to act as his attorney.
During this time, Jenkins made a “lowball offer” to purchase the firm, which was rejected by Phil Loncar. At this point, according to legal filings by Phil Loncar, “Jenkins set about to steal what he could not, through legitimate means obtain.”
Jenkins was listed in Brian Loncar’s will as third in line to be executor if the first two resigned or declined the responsibility. He allegedly pressured both Phil Loncar and the second executor to resign or waive responsibility, suggesting that they would face extended legal battles because of some of the activities Brian Loncar had engaged in while alive.
“Both the resignation and the waiver were obtained by Jenkins by fraud, through the use of artifice and deceit, through conflicts of interests and through breaches of fiduciary duties,” stated Phil Loncar in his legal filings.
Now acting as executor of the estate and the de facto proprietor of the valuable Loncar legal firm, Jenkins attempted to sell the firm to himself. Phil Loncar again objected to the sale, filing a legal petition against the deal.
“Clay Jenkins’ greed is so destructive it has poisoned his soul,” the elder Loncar claimed in documents reviewed by The Dallas Express. “At every turn, Clay Jenkins has used Brian Loncar’s death to advance his own personal interests and financial reward.”
Furthermore, Loncar alleged that Jenkins had continued to operate the firm as if Brian Loncar was still alive, using the dead man’s business to direct clients and referrals to Jenkins’ firm.
“Jenkins has continued to intake new clients … He has not disclosed to these new clients that Brian Loncar is dead,” the filing suggested.
Jenkins did this, according to Phil Loncar, because “the Loncar Firm is the largest referral source for Clay Jenkins and his law firm … Jenkins cannot afford to lose this referral source.”
Eventually, a court ruled that Jenkins could buy the firm of the deceased Brian Loncar, despite the objections of other family members including Brian Loncar’s widow.
Additionally, several of the court documents alleged that Jenkins turned down offers to purchase the Loncar firm for as much as $20 million so that his own lower offer would be accepted. As the executor of the estate, Jenkins allegedly had a fiduciary duty to optimize the amount of money the beneficiaries of Loncar’s estate would receive after the sale.
However, Jenkins allegedly refused to accept these higher offers and instead decided to sell the firm to himself.
According to filings from both Sue and Phil Loncar, part of Jenkins’ motivation to secure the Loncar firm was to cover up at least $1 million in unpaid referral fees and over $450,000 of fees unlawfully diverted to a shell company called KMA Capital, as reported by The Dallas Express.
“Jenkins was aware that for years he had received referrals from the Loncar Law Firm and owed the firm lots of money in referral fees for those cases; at least some of which he diverted,” according to court filings. “Were someone other than Jenkins to take over the Loncar Law Firm … Jenkins knew the Diverted Referral Fees would be discovered and acted upon.”
To this day, Jenkins continues to use the name Loncar to generate clients, operating a firm in Dallas called Loncar, Lyon, and Jenkins (LL&J). The website’s homepage contains no information about any of the people associated with the firm but renders the name Loncar in a larger yellow font than the other two names.
At the bottom of the page, the phrase “The Strong Arm” is displayed next to the firm name, and the motto “Call in the Strong Arm” can be seen under a depiction of a flexed arm.
After clicking on one of the types of services provided by LL&J, a new description reads, “Texas personal injury attorney Brian Loncar founded Loncar Lyon Jenkins in Dallas, Texas in 1988. The firm, now owned by Clay Jenkins and Ted Lyon, represents more than 7,000 clients each year.”
There is no disclaimer that Brian Loncar is dead, that Loncar did not found the firm with Jenkins, nor that Jenkins’ and Lyon’s involvement only occurred after Loncar’s death.
Several lawsuits related to Jenkins’ handling of the estate are ongoing, while Jenkins is currently suing Brian Loncar’s son-in-law for debts he allegedly owed to the estate.
Jenkins himself currently has a judgment against him for money he has failed to pay after losing a lawsuit connected to the Loncar business.
