Seyfarth Shaw has hit back against a former client who sued the firm for legal malpractice, arguing the client’s principal is to blame for her losses because she was secretly taking advice from Robert Powell, a disbarred Pennsylvania lawyer who pleaded guilty in 2009 to siphoning $2.8 million in kickbacks to former Luzerne County Judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr.

Seyfarth represented Blue Dog at 399 Inc. in a suit against its landlord. Ultimately, after Seyfarth withdrew, Blue Dog alleged in a malpractice suit that the law firm failed to file expert reports and complete discovery in a timely manner, leading key evidence to be excluded.