WilmerHale Asks Judge to Toss Gay Activist’s Pared-Down Malpractice Suit
WilmerHale claims a malpractice suit filed by a former gay-rights client belongs in small claims court because the claimed damages would amount to no more than around $250.
The ex-client, James Pietrangelo II, is an inactive-status lawyer from Ohio who broke from a group challenging the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy, the National Law Journal reports. Pietrangelo claims the law firm acted adversely to his interests after he began representing himself pro se.
On Aug. 2, a Washington, D.C., judge dismissed 20 out of 23 counts of Pietrangelo’s, suit including an allegation that WilmerHale interfered with Pietrangelo’s cert petition by filing a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to delay action on Pietrangelo’s claim until an appeals court ruled in a similar case.
Pietrangelo had claimed the law firm was less aggressive in the “don’t ask, don’t tell” case because it wanted to curry favor with President Obama in hopes of obtaining high-level positions for its lawyers, the story says. A lawyer representing WilmerHale, Gerson Zweifach of Williams & Connolly, tells the NLJ that allegation is “ridiculous.”
The remaining three counts in the case allege that WilmerHale broke a promise to inform Pietrangelo when and if the firm decided to file a cert petition for the other plaintiffs, according to the story. WilmerHale claims the damages would be based on the cost of printing and reprinting Pietrangelo’s cert petitions, a cost of about $250. The firm also says the claims have no basis in fact or law.
