DLA Piper has been forced to claim that emails between its associates were just a bad joke, after they suggested that the firm was cheerfully overbilling a client.
Adam H. Victor, Chief Exec of an energy company, had instructed the firm to prepare a bankruptcy filing. However when he didn't pay $675,000 in fees, DLA subsequently sued him. And Victor, being an American, inevitably counterclaimed for $22.5m in punitive damages, which would at least enable him to visit a halfway decent tailor.
Victor reckons that DLA ripped him off, and the emails in last week's court filing certainly made uncomfortable reading for the firm. One associate wrote "I hear we are already 200k over our estimate - that's Team DLA Piper!". His colleague replied "I hear that Vince has random people working full time on random research projects in standard 'churn that bill, baby!' mode. That bill shall know no limits."
DLA's problems became embarrassingly public after the New York Times got hold of the story, and management sent a memo to all the firm's lawyers stressing that the overbilling never happened and it was all just "an offensive and inexcusable effort at humor". Ho Ho.
A spokesman told RollOnFriday that "as a firm, we hold ourselves to the highest legal and ethical standards. The behavior as described is unacceptable to DLA Piper and our clients". The case continues.
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Adam H. Victor, Chief Exec of an energy company, had instructed the firm to prepare a bankruptcy filing. However when he didn't pay $675,000 in fees, DLA subsequently sued him. And Victor, being an American, inevitably counterclaimed for $22.5m in punitive damages, which would at least enable him to visit a halfway decent tailor.
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Adam H. Victor giving his best blue steel for the New York Times yesterday |
Victor reckons that DLA ripped him off, and the emails in last week's court filing certainly made uncomfortable reading for the firm. One associate wrote "I hear we are already 200k over our estimate - that's Team DLA Piper!". His colleague replied "I hear that Vince has random people working full time on random research projects in standard 'churn that bill, baby!' mode. That bill shall know no limits."
DLA's problems became embarrassingly public after the New York Times got hold of the story, and management sent a memo to all the firm's lawyers stressing that the overbilling never happened and it was all just "an offensive and inexcusable effort at humor". Ho Ho.
A spokesman told RollOnFriday that "as a firm, we hold ourselves to the highest legal and ethical standards. The behavior as described is unacceptable to DLA Piper and our clients". The case continues.
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Made me laugh.
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"Adam H. Victor, Chief Exec of an angry company..."
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