Ex-Client Loses Paul Weiss Suit
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison has succeeded in getting a suit thrown out that claimed the law firm breached a fiduciary duty to a banker it represented in WorldCom litigation.
U.S. District Judge George Daniels of New York dismissed the case in an opinion dated Aug. 2 (PDF posted by the New York Law Journal).
Paul Weiss had represented banker David Trautenberg at the same time it represented his employer, Citigroup, in litigation related to the collapse of WorldCom. Trautenberg was asset manager for WorldCom’s former CEO, Bernard Ebbers, the New York Law Journal reports in its story about the ruling.
Trautenberg claimed Paul Weiss used information obtained during the joint representation when he later negotiated a severance package with Citigroup. Trautenberg said his $5 million package would have been $20 million higher if Paul Weiss had not interfered.
But Daniels said Trautenberg’s claim that he could have gotten more money was purely speculative. He also failed to “articulate what or how privileged information was misused by Paul Weiss,” the judge said.
