“Atty Says Suit Over VidAngel’s $62M Trial Loss Is Barred” —

• “David Quinto, who co-founded Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in 1986 and began working with VidAngel in 2014, the same year he left the law firm, wants the court to dismiss trustee George Hofmann’s legal malpractice suit against him, saying the suit is barred by an arbitration provision in his VidAngel contract.”
• “Hofmann claims that an opinion letter provided by Quinto in 2015 played a key role in how the company operated. But Quinto, who left Quinn Emanuel to form new firm Kupferstein Manuel Quinto LLP and later became VidAngel’s general counsel, said Tuesday that his 2014 engagement letter with VidAngel clearly said disputes would be resolved by arbitration under California law, he told the court.”
• “‘It is for good reason that [the trustee] chose not to attach a copy of the 2014 engagement letter to his complaint, or even allege its terms. The 2014 engagement letter prohibited him from bringing this action,’ Quinto wrote.”
• “The letter ‘addressed the possibility that disputes might later arise between the parties and provided that ‘any claim for breach of contract, professional negligence or breach of a fiduciary duty,’ or any other claim arising out of KMQ’s representation of VidAngel or provision of legal services to VidAngel, would be resolved confidentially and exclusively under JAMS arbitration rules,’ Quinto said.”
• “Quinto left KMQ in August 2015 to go to Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, he said. When that firm had a conflict, Quinto had to drop VidAngel as a client, he said. But when VidAngel was sued by the studios, it asked Quinto to become its general counsel, and he joined in July 2016, he said.”