Judge Calls Out Heller Ehrman Filing ‘Flurry’

A bankruptcy judge says a recent “flurry” of court filings by Heller Ehrman LLP may “dramatically” affect the defunct law firm’s quest to chase down unfinished business profits.

Judge Dennis Montali of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco handed Heller a mild scolding Saturday as he called for a status conference to discuss the new and “challenging” issues the firm’s lawyers have introduced as its remaining unfinished business lawsuits head to trial.

In bankruptcy, Heller sued dozens of law firms that took on its former partners following its 2008 dissolution. The lawsuits aim to recover its share of the profits from continued client relationships. Most of the suits settled, but four remain against Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Foley & Lardner LLP, Jones Day LLP and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. In March, Montali ruled that Heller is entitled to some of the profits but left the specific amount undetermined. Judge Montali now says that in an “otherwise innocuous and routine” filing, Heller “unleashed” a new request: for him to determine the specific amount of those profits to which Heller’s entitled, without going to trial.

“To make the matters more challenging to the court, it is asked to permit excess pages for, and allow filing of, a motion it has not had time to study and thus does not even know the theory on which it is based, notwithstanding the promise of plaintiff to file it by June 14,” the judge wrote. “On that date plaintiff filed a flurry of things.”

Then, “to further complicate matters,” the judge said, Heller also requested to avoid a jury trial, as three of the four law firms it’s suing have demanded.

“That motion, if granted, will dramatically affect the future disposition of the three adversary proceedings with jury demands and perhaps even the fourth (Jones Day),” the judge added.

Montali called a status conference for Tuesday “to sort through what comes next.”

“No party should file anything else related to these matters before that hearing,” added the judge.

Write to Jacqueline Palank at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @PalankJ.