Firm Wants Former Employee’s Millions From Recent Settlement; ‘Absurd,’ He Replies
Forbes tells the story of a plaintiffs lawyer who worked on a long-running class action for the past 13 years, and now his former firm wants nearly all of his $2.45 million in fees from a settlement, even though he resigned from the firm in 2004.
“On June 5, the Pittsburgh law firm Specter Specter Evans & Manogue filed a lawsuit against [R. Bruce] Carlson, who left the firm long ago to create Carlson Lynch in 2004,” explains John O’Brien, Forbes contributor and editor of Legal Newsline. “The Specter firm alleges Carlson owes it nearly all of his $2.45 million in fees gained in a recent $24 million settlement regarding fees imposed on those who took out second mortgages from Community Bank of Northern Virginia.”
The firm cites a separation agreement, but Carlson says the firm was only entitled to a percentage of his fees if the original 2003 settlement was approved. An appellate court rejected that settlement, and the case went on for another 11 years.