U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Savage of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted Stevens & Lee’s motion to withdraw as counsel for a recently terminated partner, but as a consequence the firm may now have to withdraw as its own counsel, too.
Stevens & Lee filed a motion to withdraw as counsel for Harrisburg partner William R. Balaban a day after it fired him. The firm had been representing itself and Balaban in a suit brought by Elliott Greenleaf that alleged Balaban stole data from the firm before abruptly quitting to join Stevens & Lee, that he and Stevens & Lee continued to access Elliott Greenleaf’s data through a Dropbox account after Balaban left the firm, and that Balaban misused Elliott Greenleaf escrow funds for personal uses.
