Judge Tosses Suits Stemming from Partner’s Well-Publicized Ouster
A Manhattan judge has dismissed two lawsuits stemming from an attempt to set the record straight by the law firm Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman.
The lawsuits were the result of a press release and “a messy public parting” between Kasowitz Benson and Jeremy Pitcock, the former chair of the law firm’s intellectual property practice, the New York Law Journal reports.
Kasowitz Benson issued the press release after a trade publication reported last year that Pitcock had been “nabbed” by Morgan & Finnegan. The release said Kasowitz Benson had fired Pitcock for “extremely inappropriate personal misconduct.”
Pitcock sued for defamation. The law firm also sued, claiming Pitcock breached his fiduciary duty to the firm and his contract by allegedly harassing at least 12 female employees, including seven at a holiday party.
In a Sept. 29 ruling, Judge Martin Shulman tossed both lawsuits, according to the New York Law Journal. Shulman said Pitcock’s own admissions demonstrated that the law firm’s statement about his termination was true. He pointed to an e-mail Pitcock sent to another Kasowitz partner apologizing for his behavior.
The law firm’s suit also must fail, Shulman said, because it didn’t allege any actual losses stemming from Pitcock’s actions.
Pitcock had earned $1.2 million a year at Kasowitz Benson, according to his complaint. He now works in a two-lawyer boutique called The Pitcock Law Group, the story says.
