Judge Allows $150M Irell & Manella Suit
A federal judge has refused to dismiss a $150 million lawsuit against Irell & Manella that reportedly resulted from an associate’s mistake.
The prominent Southern California law firm must continue to defend the malpractice action, which was brought by Charter Communications Inc. over Irell’s alleged mishandling of a cable television acquisition in 1999, according to a decision Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford. During the acquisition, “an Irell associate mistakenly deleted two paragraphs from a contract,” recounts the Los Angeles Times. This resulted in Charter Chairman Paul Allen receiving “a different type of stock in the unit than had been intended,” in a mistake that the judge said cost Charter “millions” to rectify. Charter also contends that the firm concealed its mistakes for months.
An Irell partner said at the time the suit was filed that the firm was not the cause of any Charter loss, and said it expected to be vindicated at trial. In the motion to dismiss, the firm contended it couldn’t adequately defend itself because Allen (who is not involved in the lawsuit) is a client. However, Guilford wrote that the firm, to prevail on this argument, “must show that it will not be able to mount a full defense without violating its obligations to Allen.”
Additional details are discussed by the Wall Street Journal Law Blog post made at the time the suit was filed. The newspaper also provides a copy of the complaint (PDF).
