Ex-Partner and Ex-Associate Battle Anapol Schwartz PI Firm Over Pay
The pay war began when Anapol Schwartz Weiss Cohan Feldman & Smalley voted to demote Howard Levin from the partnership to counsel status last year.
He initially said he would accept, then, months later, changed his mind, according to a lawsuit the firm filed in Pennsylvania state court last year. The firm then eliminated him from the partnership, effective at the end of last year, and sued to recover some $140,000 in advanced fees and a reiterated promise of fee-sharing to which it contends Levin is committed under the Anapol Schwartz partnership agreement, recounts the Legal Intelligencer.
Meanwhile, Levin filed his own lawsuit against the firm, contending that it didn’t properly calculate his compensation in 2008 and 2009 concerning his work on lucrative personal injury cases.
A third related suit is now before the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, too, and the firm argues in a consolidation motion that ex-associate Beth Adamski, who left to join Levin, helped him “divert potential clients from Anapol” after his departure, the article continues.
In response, Adamski denies that she did anything wrong and characterizes the suit as an attempt to “punish, harass and intimidate” her because of her decision to join Levin’s practice. She also has counterclaimed, alleging that Anapol Schwartz owes her unpaid wages.
Levin’s suit alleges breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, interference with contractual relations and defamation, among other claims.
For more details, read the full article.
Hat tip: Am Law Daily.
