Legal Malpractice

Unusual Settings for Legal Malpractice or its Twin

By (Andrew Lavoott Bluestone)

Continuing a trend for bankruptcy/referee/trustee/ unusual settings for legal malpractice litigation, here is an article from NY Lawyer about the settlement of a large legal malpractice "disentanglement" case:

"Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has paid $9.5 million to Brocade Communications Systems to release itself -- as well its chairman and former Brocade board member, Larry Sonsini -- from civil claims stemming from the backdating disaster at the firm's longtime client.

News of Wilson's payment was tucked into a footnote in court filings Friday connected to the effort by Brocade's special litigation committee to recover some of the approximately $830 million it alleges the scandal has cost the company in settlements, legal fees and a missed merger opportunity with Cisco Systems Inc.

The special litigation committee, represented by Dewey & LeBeouf's Ralph Ferrara, filed suit against 10 former executives and board members late Friday, accusing them of racketeering, securities violations and breach of fiduciary duties. Criminally convicted CEO Gregory Reyes and HR chief Stephanie Jensen are named along with other defendants in the 282-page complaint. The new lawsuit will take the place of pending derivative suits if Brocade wins motions to dismiss them."

Full post as published by New York Attorney Malpractice Blog on August 08, 2008 (boomark / email).