Litigation
Nov. 2, 2011
Heller estate sues Greenberg Traurig
The Heller Ehrman LLP estate has sued its former counsel at Greenberg Traurig LLP for malpractice.
By Jill Redhage
Daily Journal Staff Writer
The Heller Ehrman LLP estate has sued its former counsel at Greenberg Traurig LLP for malpractice.
In a complaint filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco, the estate claims its former dissolution counsel Leslie D. Corwin and his firm are liable for tens of millions of dollars that Heller lost when Corwin failed to alert the dying firm to screw-ups at Heller's lender, Bank of America Corp.
The estate claims Corwin and his team failed to conduct a routine check of public filings that would have shown Bank of America had mistakenly negated its security interest in the firm's assets . Had Corwin checked the filings , Heller could have filed for bankruptcy sooner and kept control of its accounts during its wind-down, according to the complaint. Heller claims the alleged malpractice also exposed it to employee lawsuits.
The filing also claims Corwin harmed Heller when he included a Jewel waiver in the firm's dissolution plan. Heller claims the waiver made it more difficult for the estate to bring suits against former shareholders for taking unfinished business to their new firms. Finally, the suit alleges Corwin shouldn't have taken Heller's case when Greenberg also counted Bank of America as a client.
jill_redhage@dailyjournal.com
Jill Redhage
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