BigLaw Partner Sues Legal Recruiter, Says She Lied to Get Him to Leap to Patton Boggs
Updated: A partner at Bryan Cave has sued a Dallas legal recruiter, contending that she lied to help persuade him to move from K&L Gates, where he was then a partner, to Patton Boggs.
Diane Caldwell of Caldwell & Associates Inc. represented herself as an independent recruiter, when she wasn’t, and told him he would be a practice leader at Patton Boggs, alleges Chris Gilbert in his Dallas County lawsuit (PDF).
Caldwell, who says this is the only time she has been sued by someone she recruited in over 30 years, calls the suit “absurd,” reports Texas Lawyer in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).
She says she encouraged Gilbert to join Patton Boggs, believing it was the best opportunity for him, but never promised he’d be a practice leader. Nor, she tells the legal publication, was she on retainer to represent Patton Boggs exclusively at that time.
The general counsel of Patton Boggs, Charles Talisman, told the legal publication in an email that his firm put its agreement with Gilbert in writing and honored it.
A subsequent ABAJournal.com post includes a link to Caldwell’s answer and more information about the claims and defenses in the case.
Updated on July 28 to link to subsequent ABAJournal.com post.
