Merchants say lawyer should lose $32M fee award over alleged email contact with opposing counsel
So far, the fallout from an alleged $5 million scheme by an attorney and her husband to defraud two law firms and a client includes a lost BigLaw partnership and wire fraud conspiracy charges against both spouses.
Now it appears that email between Keila Ravelo and another lawyer who is not accused of involvement in the alleged conspiracy could scuttle a nearly $6 billion settlement between their respective clients.
A number of merchants pursuing class action litigation over credit-card swipe fees—in which both Ravelo and Gary Friedman were involved on opposite sides—are pointing to a seeming conflict of interest represented by their emails discussing the litigation. At the very least, some merchants argued in a motion (PDF) filed last week, an award to Friedman of $32 million in attorney fees should be vacated, the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) reports.
Another filing was expected Tuesday, in which lawyers for 100 merchants will challenge at least a portion of the settlement, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports, relying on unidentified sources. The case is being pursued in federal court in the Eastern District of New York.
Ravelo was a partner until last November at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, which had represented MasterCard International Inc. in class action litigation over credit-card swipe fees. Friedman and his firm represented the plaintiff merchants.
Lawyers for Friedman and Ravelo declined to comment, the Wall Street Journal says.
The two lawyers were friends who worked as associates at Sidley Austin in 1992 and vacationed together, with their families, in the ensuing years, according to the WSJ and an earlier Law.com article.
Both lawyers represented Ravelo’s husband, Melvin Feliz, in a pro bono case before Ravelo and Feliz were married.
The emails between Ravelo and Friedman were discovered by Willkie Farr as it investigated the claimed $5 million billing scheme in which Ravelo and Feliz face criminal charges in federal court in New Jersey. The spouses are accused of bilking Willkie Farr; Hunton & Williams, where Ravelo also formerly worked; and MasterCard of the money through fraudulent billing by claimed litigation support companies.
However, the criminal case over the claimed billing scheme is not Feliz’s only concern: He pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal drug conspiracy charges concerning his role in a planned delivery of 40 pounds of cocaine to New Jersey from California, the newspaper says. The maximum sentence is life in prison and a $10 million fine. A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office for New Jersey provides more details.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Two BigLaw firms paid $5.75M to partner’s fake companies, prosecutors allege”
ABAJournal.com: “Former Willkie partner accused of defrauding her firm faces scrutiny in credit-card cases”
Bergen Record: “Fraud case highlights Bergen County couple’s contrasts: Legal work vs. legal troubles”
