Feb. 15 was the day the music died at the Fort Worth office of a busy personal-injury and criminal-defense firm. The phones just stopped ringing.

When The Dunham Law Firm investigated, it learned someone allegedly had “transferred” the office’s phone number to a new phone provider without its permission. The very next day, the Austin-based firm sued a woman, alleging she “misappropriated” the phone number and directed attorney-client privileged calls to a voicemail box she controlled.