Firm Sues Ex-Lawyer for Unpaid Legal Bills of his New Employer

A New York law firm has filed a fraud lawsuit against a counsel who worked there for just 54 days before becoming general counsel of a company that never paid its legal fees.

Cohen Tauber Spievack & Wagner sued the lawyer, Matthew Browndorf, and the California company he joined, Carlton Carrera. The 21-lawyer Cohen Tauber contends its lawyers performed more than $87,000 in legal work for Carlton Carrera at Browndorf’s request, but the legal bill was never paid, the New York Law Journal reports. The suit claims Browndorf hid his intention to join Carlton Carrera so he could provide his new employer with free legal services.

Last week a federal judge in New York denied Carlton Carrera’s request to move the lawsuit to California. His ruling (PDF posted by the New York Law Journal) said Cohen Tauber had adequately alleged that Browndorf was a New York agent of Carlton Carrera, the story says.

The 2007 lawsuit (PDF posted by the New York Law Journal) says Browndorf claimed in a job interview that he could bring more than $500,000 in business to the law firm, but the claim was untrue. It alleges Browndorf accepted employment with Cohen Tauber so he could continue to receive a salary and benefits while seeking a different job.

He began work with the law firm in June 2006. During his 54 days of employment, he billed or caused other lawyers to bill more than $100,000 in uncollected legal fees, including the $87,000 in fees billed to Carlton Carrera, the complaint says. It also alleges he billed the law firm for a trip to California in which he treated Carlton Carrera’s president to a $700 dinner and a party at a strip club.

Before joining Cohen Tauber, Browndorf was a counsel at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge and an associate at Bryan Cave, the story says. He contends he acted properly while at the firm, and he is not responsible for Carlton Carrera’s debts.