A legal battle stemming from the $71 million sale of litigation funder Oasis Financial three years ago has ensnared two major law firms and a pair of Chicago attorneys.

Last week Oasis’ founder, Gary Chodes, sued Walter Holzer, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, and James Witz, the co-chairman of Littler Mendelson’s unfair competition and trade secrets practice group, claiming they helped rig the sale of Oasis to Parthenon Capital, a Boston-based private equity firm. The lawsuit also names Kirkland and Littler as defendants, along with several Parthenon principals.