Opinion: Is Adam Khan of PHMG Overreaching? A Concerning Case of Misrepresentation and Harassment Over a Redirected Domain

By Sean Hakes
Entrepreneur, Digital Strategist, and Owner of Wickedly Awesome EV, LLC

Disclaimer

I am not an attorney, and nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. The following is a statement of my personal opinion based on direct correspondence and publicly available facts.

Introduction

The case of PHMG and FreedomGolfCarts.com is a cautionary tale for any business that acquires an expired domain. What began as a simple redirect quickly devolved into a baffling display of legal misinterpretation and questionable business practices — all led by Adam Khan, Senior Client Care Director at PHMG.

The Background

In 2024, the domain name FreedomGolfCarts.com became available. As of this writing, the domain is being redirected to WickedlyAwesome.com, which is operated by my company, Wickedly Awesome EV, LLC.

To be absolutely clear: Wickedly Awesome has no affiliation whatsoever with the former business that once operated under that domain. We did not acquire the company, its contracts, its branding, or any of its liabilities.

The redirect is a technical decision — nothing more.

Misplaced Accusations from Adam Khan

Shortly after the redirect was set up, I began receiving a series of emails from Adam Khan. In these communications, he attempted to assign legal and financial responsibility to Wickedly Awesome for a contract we had nothing to do with.

One email stated:

“There are clear indications that you are now publicly operating under the Freedom Golf Carts brand name and domain—both of which remain tied to an active agreement with PHMG.”

Another added:

“If you are not the party responsible for the account, then the only route to formally and legally remove you from this matter would be if [the former owner] or another verified party either: takes over the license, or pays the outstanding balance.”

These statements are deeply troubling. Not only are they inaccurate, but they also suggest — wrongly — that simply redirecting a domain makes one liable for a previous business’s legal or financial obligations.

The Legal Reality: Domain Redirects Don't Equal Liability

The law is clear: redirecting a domain does not constitute business continuity, nor does it transfer past contractual liabilities.

There is:

  • No corporate succession

  • No branding overlap

  • No claim of continuity

  • No assumed obligations

Legal precedent supports this:

  • Kremen v. Cohen, 337 F.3d 1024 (9th Cir. 2003): Recognized domain names as property, but clarified that ownership alone does not transfer obligations.

  • Buydomains.com, LLC v. NameMedia Inc.: Confirmed that domain transactions alone do not pass branding rights or debts unless contractually agreed upon.

  • UCC Article 9: Clearly states that asset acquisitions — like domains — do not carry liabilities unless formally assumed in writing.

If PHMG believed there was any legal connection between Wickedly Awesome and the former entity, the burden of proof would require a signed, enforceable agreement. No such agreement exists.

The Question of Legal Representation

What makes this situation even more alarming is how Adam Khan positioned himself.

Throughout multiple emails, Adam Khan used legal terminology, cited contract enforcement language, and issued formal-sounding demands — all while referencing PHMG’s external legal team.

In one message, he wrote:

“Upon receipt [of your counsel’s contact], I will ensure PHMG’s External legal team connects with them directly.”

Despite this claim, all legal-sounding communication came directly from Adam Khan himself — not from an attorney.

As a precaution, a search of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (IARDC) database was conducted to determine if Adam Khan is a licensed attorney.

No results were found.

This raises serious ethical questions:

Is a non-attorney representing himself as qualified to interpret and enforce contracts, issue legal threats, and assign liability?

In my opinion, it certainly appears that way — and that creates potential risk not only for those on the receiving end of his messages, but also for PHMG as a company.

Harassment and Escalation

Even after being clearly and repeatedly informed that Wickedly Awesome was not connected to the prior business or its obligations, Adam Khan continued to involve my company in further correspondence.

He copied unrelated third parties into emails. He shared confidential contract information. And he continued to make unsupported claims of responsibility.

This was not a misunderstanding. It became a pattern — one that felt increasingly harassing.

Final Thoughts

I’ve worked with hundreds of companies across the U.S. and internationally. Very few interactions have compelled me to speak publicly. But in this case, the behavior of Adam Khan, and the failure of PHMG to intervene, went too far.

In my personal opinion:

  • Redirecting a domain does not make you responsible for another company’s debts.

  • Continuing to make such claims — after being corrected — is misleading and potentially harassing.

  • Acting as legal counsel without a license raises serious ethical and professional concerns.

If this is how PHMG handles account disputes, then I strongly urge others to exercise caution before doing business with them.

We live in an era where digital misinformation can quickly become costly. No business owner should be dragged into another company’s unresolved contract dispute simply because a domain they now use once belonged to someone else.

This is my opinion. And I stand by it.

As a result of this conduct, I have filed a Request for Investigation with the Illinois State Bar Association regarding what I believe may be the unauthorized practice of law by Adam Khan. I encourage others who experience similar behavior to document everything and consider reporting it to the appropriate regulatory body.