Law Firms
Paralegal Sues Holland & Knight for Raising Conflict that Cost Her a Job
Posted Jan 3, 2008, 02:54 pm CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A paralegal has sued Holland & Knight for tortious interference for raising concerns about a conflict of interest caused by her planned move to a new law firm.
Paralegal Patricia Dillman had landed a new $200,000 job at Hughes Hubbard & Reed when the offer was abruptly withdrawn because of the potential conflict, which was caused by her work on an oil-spill case. She filed suit in Washington, D.C., superior court in November, reports the BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.
Dillman and Holland differ on her involvement in the litigation. Dillman, the director of Holland’s litigation support group, says she billed less than 15 hours to find e-discovery companies to work on the case. Holland says the knowledge she gained in her work could result in a breach of client confidentiality.
Holland represents the Spanish government in the suit, which contends the American Bureau of Shipping was negligent in classifying a ship as able to haul fuel. Hughes represents the shipping bureau.
A federal judge dismissed the Spanish suit yesterday, saying it should be tried in the country's own courts, the blog reports.
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Comments
Posted by George Lenard - 9 months, 3 days, 2 hours, 41 minutes ago
I know NY is pricey, but was shocked to hear of a $200,000 paralegal. It sounds fishy to me.
Per Monster.com, a 75th percentile salary for top paralegal position, described as a paralegal manager, in NY, is $119,373 (median is 97,273). So it is unusually high pay.
Sometimes in competitive situations (usually business competition, but active involvement on opposite sides of litigation is analogous), an individual is hired for the value of their inside knowledge, not their skills. Gross overpayment would be an indication this is happening (their value exceeds market value of comparably skilled individuals because of the inside knowledge).
Of course, if she was making nearly as much and had some superlative qualifications other than her involvement in the case, I could be speculating incorrectly. But it seems fishy.
www.employmentblawg.com
Posted by Interested Observer - 9 months, 2 days, 19 hours, 31 minutes ago
As Director of the Lit Support Group she is more than just a paralegal or even a paralegal manager and $200K isn’t outrageous depending on the size of the group, the amount of litigation done and her education and experience. It’s a new age and paralegals are doing a lot more now than bate stamping documents and running to the copier....