Prominent Divorce Lawyer Tussles With Law Firm Over Bankruptcy
A prominent New Jersey divorce lawyer who filed for bankruptcy has reached a settlement to resolve creditors’ claims, but a law firm that represented a secretary who sued him is opposing the resolution.
The secretary for Elliot Gourvitz was awarded $305,000 plus $195,000 in attorney fees in a suit that claimed the divorce lawyer fired her because cancer surgery disfigured her appearance, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. That case settled and the judgment was satisfied, but not until the firm that represented the secretary, Barry, McTiernan & Wedinger, spent more money trying to collect. Courts awarded the firm $100,000 in fees for its collection efforts.
Now Barry McTiernan claims the $75,000 it would receive under the bankruptcy settlement is not enough, according to the legal publication. It claims it is owed at least $50,000 more in fees in the bias case and fees incurred in the bankruptcy.
