A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a Philadelphia lawyer’s suit alleging that Los Angeles litigation boutique Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht acted in bad faith by failing to follow through with a $160,000 settlement in a dispute over attorney fees.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a district court’s finding that solo attorney Bruce Chasan failed to adequately allege that he entered into an agreement with litigator John Pierce and Pierce Bainbridge to resolve a dispute involving a client who had left Chasan for Pierce.