A California state court judge has dismissed a $120 million defamation suit filed against Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and litigation partner Douglas Rappaport by John Kirkland, a former partner at Dreier LLP and Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps.
Rappaport refers a request for comment on the suit’s dismissal to Akin Gump’s San Antonio-based deputy general counsel Frank Stenger-Castro, who did not return a telephone call. An Akin Gump spokesman says the firm does not comment on pending litigation. Akin Gump’s outside counsel in the case, Alan Weil of Los Angeles-based Gaims, Weil, West & Epstein, did not respond to a request for comment.
