Client’s Sons Sue Hogan & Hartson for $120M, Say Lawyer Fought Too Hard

When Robert Cave agreed to help Colleen Boland negotiate a settlement agreement to resolve alimony and child support issues with her ex-husband, the Hogan & Hartson partner thought of the matter as a quick favor.

But nearly 12 years later, the matter—which survived his client's death several years ago—has damaged his practice and prompted the onetime executive committee member to withdraw from his partnership at the firm, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

Now he and the firm are being sued for breach of contract and malpractice by her two sons. They contend in the District of Columbia Superior Court suit that they are owed $120 million in damages due to the firm's pursuit of unnecessary litigation that has drained the estate. Hogan & Hartson has billed about $1.2 million for its work on the case and collected $465,000, according to court filings.

The 56-year-old Cave declined to comment to the legal publication. But in various court documents he describes Boland as his best friend and says he risked his legal career to fight for her and her family, doing exactly what she hired him to do, the National Law Journal reports. "I have loaned this case a million dollars out of my time," he said last year at a court hearing. "You have no idea the toll it's taken on me."

Read the full article for details of what was at issue in Boland's dispute with her former husband, Frank Benevento II, a prominent investment banker.