Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has fired back at a recruiter who claims credit for Ethan Klingsberg’s move to the firm, arguing the firm had no written contract with him.

Boston Executive Search Associates, which calls itself ESA, claimed in a lawsuit last year that it told Freshfields’ U.S. corporate leader Mitchell Presser in November 2018 that Klinsgberg was open to a move away from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, only to be told by Presser to “hold off.”