Chadbourne plans vote on ouster of partner who filed $100M gender bias suit
Chadbourne & Parke is scheduling a vote on whether to oust a partner who filed a $100 million class action claiming the law firm has “a culture of discrimination against female attorneys.”
Chadbourne announced plans for a vote Wednesday, the Am Law Daily (sub. req.), Bloomberg Big Law Business and Above the Law report. The vote will determine whether the firm expels partner Kerrie Campbell, who claimed in her suit that female partners are underpaid and shut out of law firm leadership. Her suit has been joined by two other former Chadbourne partners, one of whom still serves as of counsel to the firm.
Chadbourne has filed a counterclaim that alleges Campbell breached her fiduciary duty by revealing confidential financial information and engaging in “a nationwide smear campaign” against the firm.
Chadbourne’s statement said Campbell was asked to voluntarily leave the firm last year. The request was made, the statement alleged, when it became impossible to ignore Campbell’s “failure to deliver in the way she represented when she joined Chadbourne, her exhibiting questionable legal judgment, her serious and disruptive failures in practice management, and her displaying poor personal judgment.”
Rather than leave, Campbell “instead, chose to pursue baseless claims in the cynical pursuit of a big and undeserved payday,” the law firm said. “No matter how she will try to mischaracterize it, this decision is the inevitable result of the choices Ms. Campbell has made.”
Campbell’s lawyer, David Sanford, countered with a statement declaring that Chadbourne had hit a “new low.” The law firm statement, Sanford said, “openly admits that the vote to terminate Ms. Campbell is retaliatory.” Sanford also pledged to pursue discovery to determine whether Chadbourne’s merger partner, Norton Rose Fulbright, had any role in directing or approving Campbell’s expulsion.
Chadbourne and Norton Rose announced their plans to merge in February.
