Legal Recruiter Sued by BigLaw Partner She Sent to Patton Boggs Says He's to Blame for Any Issues
A Texas legal recruiter sued by a partner of Bryan Cave has filed an answer (PDF) to his Dallas County complaint (PDF).
Contrary to what Chris Gilbert contends, says Diane Caldwell of Caldwell & Associates Inc., she never owed contractual or fiduciary alleged duties to him, let alone breached them by persuading him to take a job at Patton Boggs. Her pleading, which is provided by the Tex Parte blog of Texas Lawyer, says he is responsible for any issues he had with the firm.
Although Gilbert asserted claims for negligence, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract, Caldwell focuses on what she says is the contractual nature of his case and urges the court to dismiss the tort claims because any damages would be based on claimed contractual duties. She also pleads affirmative defenses based on the statute of limitations, ratification, waiver and the duty to mitigate.
In addition to seeking the dismissal of his suit, she asks for attorney’s fees.
“She’s been in this business 30 years, and she’s never once had an issue, and she’s really flabbergasted these allegations are being made,” says defense attorney Julie Heath of Farrow-Gillespie & Heath in Dallas.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “BigLaw Partner Sues Legal Recruiter, Says She Lied to Get Him to Leap to Patton Boggs”
