McDermott Will & Emery is being sued for legal malpractice by a bankruptcy trustee of former client St Vincent’s Catholic Medical Centers of New York, writes the New York Law Journal, with the claim alleging that partners at the Chicago-based law firm “put their personal relationships and selfish economic concerns above the interests of the charitable institution they were entrusted to protect”.
The 75-page complaint, filed on Monday (14 April) in Manhattan Supreme Court by trustee Richard Gray, alleges that McDermott put off a much-needed Chapter 11 filing to facilitate self-dealing by two other members of the hospital group’s restructuring team. As a result of the delay, the trustee claims, St Vincent’s incurred greater operating losses, paid more professional fees and took longer to emerge from bankruptcy after it finally did file.
