Recruiter Got Zip in 12-Lawyer Leap, Now Seeks $100M in Federal Suit
A legal recruiter has sued Los Angeles-based Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith for $100 million in actual and punitive damages, contending that the 700-attorney law firm squeezed C.B. Legal Search LLC out of a 12-attorney placement deal it helped orchestrate.
In March, C.B. Legal Search introduced partner Edward Ruberry of Bollinger Ruberry & Garvey to “senior-level employees” at Lewis Brisbois and he revealed the identities of insurance lawyers at his Chicago firm who would be interested in moving to Lewis Brisbois, alleges the suit, which is now in federal court in the Southern District of Texas.
After this meeting, C.B. Legal Search asked Lewis Brisbois to sign a confidentiality agreement, the suit says, and the firm’s then-chief financial officer e-mailed the recruiting firm that each party would do so. But, the suit states, no such agreement was ever signed, reports the National Law Journal.
Nonetheless, the recruiter moved forward, and in July, Lewis Brisbois announced that it had acquired a 12-lawyer insurance group from Bollinger Ruberry, the action alleges, contending that Lewis Brisbois acted fraudulently by promising to sign an agreement that the law firm actually didn’t intend to enter into. It also asserts a negligent representation claim.
Edward Ruberry remains a partner at the Bollinger firm, which lists nearly 50 lawyers on its attorney roster.
A lawyer for Lewis Brisbois declined the NLJ’s request for comment.
The plaintiff is represented by Muhammad Aziz of Abraham Watkins Nichols Sorrels Agosto & Friend in Houston.
The article doesn’t explain why the lawsuit is being pursued in Texas, where it appears that neither law firm has an office. It originally was filed in Texas state court before being moved to federal court.
