Let’s call it the not-so-friendly skies. The re-reincarnation of the airline Pan American is suing Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton and one of the firm’s D.C. attorneys for legal malpractice. Filed in D.C. Superior Court, the suit alleges that Sheppard Mullin, which represented two of the airline’s subsidiaries in the past, breached a fiduciary duty by agreeing to represent Pan Am’s general counsel, John Nadolny, without the company’s knowledge.
According to the complaint, Nadolny had forged a $320,000 bond meant to secure a settlement Pan Am had reached with the Air Line Pilots Association. When inspectors from the bond company came calling, Nadolny turned to attorneys at Sheppard Mullin, including John Fornaciari, a partner and white-collar defense attorney at the firm, for advice on how to best handle the insurance company’s investigation. Nadolny had worked with Fornaciari in the past on Pan Am-related litigation in New England and in Florida.
