A New York arbitrator has sided with Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in a dispute with former Los Angeles partner Michael Perlis, ruling that Perlis is not entitled to retirement benefits under the firm’s partnership agreement because he continues to practice law at a competing firm. The award, which would typically remain private, emerged in court documents filed last week in a related action in New York state court.
To recap the events leading up to arbitrator Charlotte Moses Fischman’s June 18 ruling: Perlis, who moved his securities litigation practice to Locke Lord last July after spending more than two decades with Stroock, sued his former firm in Los Angeles County Superior Court two weeks later, claiming he should still be able to collect benefits under Stroock’s retirement plan. Perlis amended the complaint in September to include allegations that the firm had retaliated against him for, among other things, speaking out about how it handled sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims filed against it. That same month, Stroock argued that in line with the firm’s partnership agreement, the dispute should have been filed in New York and should be arbitrated there. In January, a judge agreed to uphold the arbitration clause. An arbitration hearing took place May 9 without Perlis in attendance and ended with Fischman fully backing Stroock’s position, but also ordering Perlis to pay the firm $163,643 in attorney fees.
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