Harris County Clerk Christopher Hollins and his law firm have been accused of engaging in a case-running scheme, in a civil barratry lawsuit brought by a Houston-area man.

Derrick Ballard also alleges, in the petition filed Thursday in Harris County state district court, that Hollins Law Group and Dax F. Garza P.C. negotiated a settlement for him without a fee-splitting agreement and shared in the fee anyway.