One-Time Lieff Cabraser Partner Says Dispute over Litigation Strategy Led to His Ouster
Was a dispute over litigation strategy the beginning of the end for an equity partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein?
As former partner Barry Himmelstein tells the story to the Recorder, his troubles began when he wanted to seek punitive damages in a debit-fee lawsuit against Wells Fargo that netted a $203 million verdict. Himmelstein says his lawsuit co-counsel, Richard Heimann, insisted it wasn’t possible to secure punitives, “and therein is the genesis of the fight.”
Himmelstein also cites a personality conflict with partner Michael Sobol, a member of the law firm’s executive committee, the Recorder says. And he sees another motive for the vote to expel him last week: an effort to keep him from obtaining any bonus awarded in the Wells Fargo case or in a Bank of America settlement in Florida multidistrict litigation.
Lieff Cabraser disputes Himmelstein’s version of events, according to a lawyer representing the firm, Douglas Melton of Long & Levit. “Mr. Himmelstein has now provided you with several purported reasons for his disputes with the firm,” Melton told the Recorder. “Absolutely none of them is true.” Melton said the real reasons cannot be disclosed because of Himmelstein’s privacy rights, but they were spelled out in a letter fo Himmelstein.
