BigLaw firm seeks $3.7M from attorney's estate, says he intentionally filed 'bogus case'
A powerhouse litigation firm and two of its attorneys are seeking a total of nearly $3.7 million from the estate of a deceased Los Angeles lawyer, contending that he intentionally pursued a “bogus case” before his death that cost them a lucrative client.
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan says that high-profile litigator Hillel Chodos pursued a baseless civil suit on behalf of former Beverly Hills Unified School District employee and contractor Karen Christiansen, after Christiansen won a criminal case on appeal, reports Courthouse News.
Although purportedly filed on behalf of the ex-employee in 2013, the malicious prosecution suit, which named the law firm and its two attorneys among the defendants, actually was intended to—and did—gain a litigation advantage by forcing Quinn Emanuel to stop representing the school district, the new lawsuit contends.
Filed last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, the new malicious prosecution suit seeks $685,987 for the law firm, $2 million for attorney Steven Madison and $1 million for attorney Michael Lifrak, the article reports.
The suit alleges that Chodos knew the 2013 suit had no merit and filed it for an improper purpose, costing the law firm its client and forcing the now-plaintiffs to defend themselves “in a bogus case.”
The Beverly Hills Unified School District dropped Quinn Emanuel in May 2014 and brought in new counsel “primarily due to the increased costs incurred in connection with the malicious prosecution case,” the complaint alleges.
A Jan. 8 opinion (PDF) by the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, explains why the 2013 civil suit filed by Chodos against the law firm defendants and others—which “alleged none of the necessary elements to state a cause of action for fraud”—was properly dismissed.
The Courthouse News article doesn’t include any comment from the Chodos estate.
Related coverage:
Orange County Register: “Conviction reversed in case that sunk Newport schools chief”
