Fired Lawyer Barred from Recruiting Ex-Firm Clients Because of Alleged Exaggerations
A federal judge has ruled that exaggerations in a letter sent by a fired lawyer to her former clients justified a preliminary injunction sought by her one-time firm.
Judge Petrese Tucker ruled Dec. 22 on behalf of Philadelphia personal injury firm Feldman & Pinto, according to the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct. Tucker’s opinion (PDF) said the firm was likely to prevail on the merits of its claim for tortious interference with contractual relations.
Tucker issued the injunction barring contact with Feldman clients against Martha Seithel, who had sent letters to about 450 of the firm’s clients in July. Tucker said Seithel could not assert a truth defense to the firm’s claim for intentional interference with contractual relations because of the letter’s exaggerations and omissions.
The letter said Seithel had “recently left” the firm, she had “primary responsibility” for their claims and she now practices at Seithel Law, a firm with “an experienced team in place with over 20 years of combined experience.” The letters asked the clients to decide whether they wanted Seithel, the firm or another lawyer to represent them, but emphasized the choice was theirs to make.
Tucker said Seithel may have had primary responsibility for some cases, but not for others. Nor did she disclose her firing, or the fact that Seithel Law was not officially organized at the time she was touting its experienced team—which consisted of Seithel (who had 10 years of experience), a paralegal, an administrative assistant and a couple of interns.
The injunction bars contact with Feldman clients, unless they moved their cases to Seithel before a judge issued a temporary restraining order in August. Seithel has filed a notice of appeal.
