Legal Malpractice

Brocade, Backdating and Legal Malpractice

By (Andrew Lavoott Bluestone)

Legal malpractice has lately been examining securities transactions, bankruptcies and other phenomina of the downward trend in the economy.  Here, Law Com reports a new case against outside counsel for Brocade.

"Few plaintiffs have gone after companies' outside lawyers in backdating lawsuits. But a new derivative case against directors and officers at Brocade Communications Systems Inc. also targets the company's law firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Filed April 18 in Northern District federal court by a small San Diego firm, Johnson Bottini, the suit accuses Wilson Sonsini of legal malpractice for allegedly blessing backdating at Brocade, a company that saw two of its former executives convicted of criminal charges.

In particular, the plaintiff alleges that the firm signed off on a part-time program for new Brocade hires that was really set up to grant stock options for the new employees at low points. The complaint also claims that Wilson Sonsini gave bad legal advice on a settlement proposal that didn't give enough to Brocade in another derivative case.

Although firm Chairman Larry Sonsini has been named in backdating suits in his role as a director, as in this case with Brocade, the firm hasn't (aside from a case brought by a pro se Rambus investor).

"The obvious reason that people don't sue them is because they're going to have a lot of cases with Wilson Sonsini in the future," said Francis Bottini Jr., the lead lawyer on the case. "But if there's a valid claim, it's our duty as lawyers to bring them for the company."

Full post as published by New York Attorney Malpractice Blog on May 02, 2008 (boomark / email).