Jurors Laud Sonnenschein Defense, Give Ex-Partner a Mixed Verdict
A former partner at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal had sought $8.2 million in his lawsuit against the firm, but he’s getting far less than that.
Two jurors said they found ex-partner Douglas Rosenthal was underpaid by more than $500,000 even though Sonnenschein had better lawyers in the case, Legal Times reports. Sonnenschein was represented by Michele Roberts of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and James Hamilton of Bingham McCutchen.
Juror Robert Stofferson told the legal newspaper, “I didn’t believe Ms. Roberts as much, but she was such a brilliant litigator that I was leaning toward her direction.”
Judge Melvin Wright will use the jurors’ findings and evidence of Sonnenschein’s profitability to calculate how money Rosenthal is owed, the legal newspaper reports.
Rosenthal had claimed the law firm failed to properly compensate him for representing the families of victims killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. And he said the firm didn’t give him origination credit for helping bring in business from Sun Microsystems. The bombing case brought $17 million to the firm, and the Sun Microsystems work brought $20 million.
Jurors in Washington, D.C., reached a verdict on Friday. They found that Rosenthal should have earned $500,000 each year in 2003 and 2004, instead of the more than $400,000 in annual compensation that he received. And they found he should have received $1.365 million in 2005 and 2006 instead of the more than $1 million offered each year.
Jurors awarded $300,000 to Sonnenschein on a counterclaim stemming from its contention that Rosenthal and his new law firm interfered with Sonnenschein clients when he left in 2005.
Rosenthal, who isn’t connected to the Rosenthal in the law firm’s name, said he is glad the trial is over. “It’s much harder being a client than being a lawyer,” he told the publication.
