Lewis Rice LLC is defending a malpractice lawsuit brought by the unsecured creditors of DCA Outdoor, Inc., a Kansas City landscaping conglomerate that filed a roughly $95 million Chapter 11 case in early 2025. The creditors’ committee alleges the firm and partner Larry Parres represented DCA’s founder rather than the bankruptcy estate, ran up more than $1.5 million in fees in the process, and seeks at least $10 million in compensatory damages plus punitive damages and full disgorgement of fees. The adversary proceeding was filed May 6, 2026, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri.
Who Is Suing and What They Want
The plaintiff is the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, appointed on March 10, 2025, after DCA Outdoor and nineteen affiliated entities filed for Chapter 11 on February 20, 2025. The defendants are Lewis Rice LLC, a firm of more than 150 lawyers with offices across Missouri and Kansas, and Larry Parres, one of its partners.
The committee is asking the court for:
- Compensatory damages of at least $10 million.
- Punitive damages for what it characterizes as willful and reckless breach of fiduciary duty.
- Disgorgement of all fees and expenses already paid to Lewis Rice.
- Denial of the firm’s final fee application.
What the Complaint Alleges
The central theory is that Lewis Rice treated founder Tory Schwope, not the bankruptcy estate, as its real client during the months it served as DCA’s counsel. The committee says that conflict shaped the firm’s conduct throughout the case.
On oversight, the complaint alleges Lewis Rice fought the appointment of both a Chief Restructuring Officer and a Chapter 11 trustee to keep Schwope in control of the company. A bankruptcy receiver eventually removed Schwope as CEO in September 2025, and Brent King was appointed CRO on September 11, 2025.
On billing, Lewis Rice sought $1,536,092.40 in fees from the estate. The committee alleges that 64.2% of the firm’s billed time was spent on matters that primarily benefited Schwope personally rather than the estate or its creditors.
On loyalty after termination, the firm’s engagement ended in October 2025. The complaint alleges that Lewis Rice then provided an unexecuted lease to Schwope and began representing Valley Hill Tree Farm, an entity wholly owned by Schwope, without disclosing the adverse relationship to the bankruptcy court. Lewis Rice attorneys Charles David Goerisch, John J. Hall, and Larry E. Parres were formally terminated from the case on November 20, 2025.
On financial transparency, the complaint alleges the firm obstructed creditor access to DCA’s financial data, concealing that Frontier Farm Credit’s claim of more than $95 million was undersecured.
The Underlying Bankruptcy
DCA Outdoor was founded in 2016 as a vertically integrated nursery and landscaping business and grew to operate 12 brands across six states, including Colonial Gardens, Anna Evergreen, and Brehob Nurseries. A crop failure, a federal Phytophthora quarantine that locked up $20 million in inventory for five months, and a large customer’s refusal to pay for spring shipments hit the company in 2024. Frontier Farm Credit accelerated DCA’s debt in early February 2025, and the Chapter 11 filing followed weeks later before Chief Bankruptcy Judge Cynthia A. Norton.
Schwope himself filed for personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March 2026. A separate lawsuit filed in February 2026 alleged that he had attempted to seize $8.7 million from the company.
Where the Case Stands
As of June 2026, the adversary proceeding was in its early stages, and the court had already held hearings on contested matters related to Lewis Rice’s professional fees. The underlying bankruptcy remains active, with a sale hearing held on February 20, 2026, and a status hearing on June 3, 2026. DCA is now represented by Evans & Mullinix, PA.