A Manhattan plaintiffs lawyer’s claim that he is entitled to a share of a former client’s patent licensing agreements may proceed in New York courts even though most of the representation took place in California, a federal judge has ruled.
Southern District Judge Peter Leisure found that a provision of the retainer agreement between attorney Russel H. Beatie and San Diego-based Patriot Scientific Corp. specifying New York as a venue for disputes trumped both the locus of events and a California law requiring lawyers to submit to arbitration in fee disputes.