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Ex-Lewis Brisbois Partner's Wrongful Termination Suit Proceeds
The National Law Journal
January 13, 2009
Image: Photodisc Green
A wrongful termination action filed by a former partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith can press ahead following a California appeals court decision that rejected an attempt to block the lawsuit under the state's anti-SLAPP law, Code of Civil Procedure §425.16.
The California Court of Appeal ruled on Dec. 31 that a lower court was correct in denying the defendants' motion to strike a lawsuit filed by former nonequity partner Gary Effron.
Lewis Brisbois, American International Group and AIG Technical Services are defending the action that alleges negligence, intentional interference with contractual relations and other claims that Effron filed after the firm fired him in 2006.
In rejecting the motion to strike filed by AIG, the appeals court in an unpublished opinion in Effron v. AIG, No. B198461 (Calif. Ct. App.), found that Effron's allegations did not fall within the scope of the state's anti-SLAPP statute and, therefore, did not enable the defendants to use the statute to block his lawsuit. Anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) statutes protect parties from being burdened with litigation that is intended to intimidate or silence protected speech.
Effron's lawsuit -- and the subsequent motion to strike under the anti-SLAPP law -- stem from his representation of two clients insured by AIG in what the appeals court referred to as the Saakyan case. Effron alleged that while defending the clients in 2004, an equity partner at Lewis Brisbois, under the direction of AIG, told him not to prepare for a trial but to focus on settling the case, even though the trial date was only 10 days away.
Although the parties in the Saakyan case decided to settle, the plaintiffs suing Effron's clients later rejected the settlement. Effron then told his clients that AIG had directed him not to prepare for trial, according to the Dec. 31 decision. After the clients informed AIG about Effron's disclosure of the plan not to prepare for trial, AIG contacted the equity partner to complain about it. Effron was removed from other AIG matters, according to the decision, and he later turned over the Saakyan files to another partner.
Effron was fired as a nonequity partner in July 2006 after he was unable to meet the law firm's minimum billing requirements, the decision stated. Effron filed a lawsuit against the law firm and AIG in September 2006.
The defendants, in seeking to have Effron's case thrown out under California's anti-SLAPP statute, asserted that all of the allegedly wrongful conduct of the law firm and AIG was protected by the statute as privileged litigation communication. The motion asserted that the statements criticizing Effron's performance were made during the course of underlying litigation and were within the anti-SLAPP law's purview.
In affirming the lower court decision, the three-judge appeals panel found that Effron's claims did not arise from statements that AIG and the law firm made about the strategy to focus on settling instead of preparing for trial. "Rather, his clams arise out of the alleged retaliation that occurred afterwards, when he discussed AIG's instruction with AIG's insureds and those insureds complained to AIG, who in turn complained to [Lewis Brisbois]," the decision stated.
Representing the defense are Alan R. Zuckerman and Barry Zoller of Lewis Brisbois. Michael D. Seplow of Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman in Venice, Calif., is representing Effron. Neither law firm returned phone calls seeking comment.
