Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani New Jersey Partner Melissa Brown, with the assistance of Associate Deanne Lowden, obtained summary judgment on behalf of their clients, an attorney at law and his law practice.
The plaintiff, an attorney and a former joint partner in a law firm, claimed that the defendants orchestrated a scheme to remove the plaintiff from his ownership stake in the firm, which would enable the defendants’ clients, who were also former joint partners at the firm, to establish a new law firm without involving the plaintiff. The defendants asserted that they had never represented the underlying firm and offered their clients no advice or guidance with regard to the divestiture or distribution of corporate assets. Rather, the defendants represented their clients in the creation of the new law firm and the defense of the corporate distribution case.
The plaintiff filed a lawsuit claiming legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, conversion, gross negligence, conspiracy, and intentional interference with contractual relationship. Brown was aggressive, filing an early pre-discovery dispositive motion seeking the dismissal of all claims. After extensive argument, the court found that the plaintiff had no competent evidence of an attorney-client relationship between the defendants and the plaintiff’s former firm. With this finding, the court granted summary judgment dismissing all claims with prejudice against the defendants.