Ex- Baron & Budd Lawyer Claims Firm Lured Him with Misrepresentations
The accusations are flying in a trial of claims by a former Baron & Budd lawyer who contends the law firm lured him to work there by misrepresenting its compensation system.
A Dallas County jury begin hearing the case last week, Texas Lawyer (reg. req.) reports. The plaintiff, Gary Cruciani, left McKool Smith as a shareholder principal to work at Baron & Budd and is now back at McKool as a nonshareholder principal, his lawyer told the publication.
Cruciani claims Russell Budd, a law firm founder, misrepresented the compensation and “upside” of working at Baron & Budd to lure him to the firm in 2006, the story says.
Cruciani alleges he was promised he would be in charge of Baron & Budd’s commercial litigation group with the power to make hiring and firing decisions, but the firm later laid off virtually the entire group 10 months later, despite his objections. He also claims Budd gave himself a $50 million bonus in December 2005 that was 75 percent of the firm’s bonus pool.
Baron & Budd, on the other hand, claims that Cruciani was not promoted to partner “because of his interactions with female employees.” The firm also says the lawyer breached his fiduciary duty when he hired a Dallas lawyer to represent him, even though the lawyer had formerly done legal work for Baron & Budd. The firm’s counterclaim also alleges that Cruciani diverted Baron & Budd clients to other firms.
Cruciani denies acting inappropriately, the story says.
Cruciani told Texas Lawyer that his time at Barron & Budd “was all a mirage.”
“I gave up something very valuable at McKool Smith,” he said.
