A federal judge yesterday largely denied a motion to dismiss a $100 million malpractice case against Greenberg Traurig stemming from its patent work for an electronics manufacturing client. The bench ruling by Southern District Judge George Daniels cleared the way for discovery to begin in Leviton Manufacturing Co. Inc.’s suit against the firm. Leviton sued Greenberg and three of its former partners in September after a District of Maryland magistrate judge found that Leviton, while represented by Greenberg, had committed “inequitable conduct” before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and had committed discovery abuses in subsequent litigation (NYLJ, Sept. 24, 2009).
Greenberg argued that some of Leviton’s claims should be dismissed because they fell outside the three-year malpractice statute of limitations, as some of the allegations dated to 1999. Leviton countered that the firm’s work on the patents was part of a “continuous representation” and, as a result, falls within the statute. Judge Daniels called the issue a fact question and denied the motion without prejudice.
