Legal Ethics
Tech Clients Claim Foley & Lardner Overbilled, Underrepresented
Posted Feb 3, 2009, 04:58 pm CST
By Martha Neil
Three tech company clients have sued Foley & Lardner, contending that the law firm overbilled them for unnecessary work and didn't effectively pursue their case as plaintiffs in federal patent infringement case in the Eastern District of Texas.
The suit seeks $1 million in damages, claiming that Foley breached a verbal agreement concerning the work the law firm was to perform, according to the Am Law Daily. The article relies on information from the National Law Journal, to which Foley & Lardner declined comment.
Although the Am Law Daily article doesn't say where the lawsuit against Foley was filed, it apparently was brought in the Eastern District of Texas, too, under diversity jurisdiction.
Step one for any law firm wishing to avoid such a dispute is to put representation agreements in writing, suggests The Ethical Quandary. And, although more facts are needed before the Foley situation becomes clear, regular billing can also help avert this kind of dispute, adds the law blog, which is authored by attorneys at Hinshaw & Culbertson.
Law firm Braden Varner & Aldous, which is based in Dallas, is representing the plaintiffs.
Additional coverage:
Patent Prospector: "Foliation"
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