“Nelson Mullins Can’t Escape Claims It Created a Conflict of Interest Involving Newly Hired Attorney” —

• “Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough must continue facing claims it created ‘incentives’ for an attorney’s planned 2023 move to the firm while also knowing he was ‘not honoring the duties’ he owed a Colorado inventor who hired him for a lawsuit against a Nelson Mullins client.”
• “Colorado state court Judge Jill Dorancy last week dismissed a civil conspiracy claim against the Am Law 100 firm but allowed to stand an allegation that the firm aided and abetted a breach of fiduciary duty by the lawyer for Colorado inventor Amanda Sima in a case stemming from claims a manufacturer copied Sima’s plans for a children’s drinking cup lid.”
• “Sima’s current attorney, Paul Gordon of Gordon Legal Malpractice said that, ‘assuming the case proceeds as normal,’ it could proceed to trial in Denver in summer 2026. Denver-based Nelson Mullins partner Mark Clouatre, representing the firm, declined comment.”
• “‘The court emphasizes that the court’s reinstatement of the aiding and abetting claim does not resolve whether the fiduciary actually breached the duty—only that plaintiff plausibly alleged it for purposes of Rule 12(b)(5).'”
• “The case, first filed in May 2025 in Denver County Court, stems from Nelson Mullins’ representation of Novolex Holdings and its involvement in attorney Barker’s ‘conflict’ with his representation of Sima and subsequent departure from representing her after disclosing he was joining Nelson Mullins.”
• “‘Defendants intentionally caused Benesch to terminate the contract with plaintiff,’ Sima alleged. ‘Plaintiff had a contract with Benesch in which Benesch agreed to provide legal services for plaintiff. Defendants knew their actions were likely to result in Benesch terminating Benesch’s contract with plaintiff.'”
• “In addition, ‘Nelson Mullins had actual knowledge of the conflicts of interest in discussing Mr. Barker’s employment and in hiring Mr. Barker,’ the original lawsuit stated.”
• “‘In the alternative, and in the face of the lateral hire of seven lawyers from a competing law firm, Nelson Mullins knowingly and intentionally refused to investigate whether conflicts of interest did or would exist. In any event, Nelson Mullins should have known about the conflicts.'”
• “After not hearing from Novolex, Sima said she contacted FM Turner Co. about marketing the lids. She also ‘relied on the promises of FM Turner not to disclose and not to use confidential information concerning the lids’ but was unaware the company also represented Novolex, the suit stated.”
• “Sima then claimed Turner gave information about the lids to Novolex which obtained a provisional patent for a similar product and began selling it in 2019—after which ‘investors withdrew their financing’ for Sima’s product.”
• “She then retained Barker and Novolex hired Nelson Mullins for the case.”
• “Dorancy wrote in a filing last week that Benesch advised Sima to ‘allow Benesch to accept documents from Nelson Mullins without disclosing the nature and content to plaintiff’ after she agreed to an Attorney Eyes Only (AEO) agreement.”
• “‘Benesch then entered into the AEO agreement, telling her that her claims against Novolex lacked merit. Then, within a month, plaintiff’s attorney [Barker] publicly disclosed, unbeknownst to her at the time, that he was joining Nelson Mullins.”
• “‘These allegations, if true, plausibly support an inference that [Nelson Mullins and Novolex] knowingly participated in and substantially assisted a breach of fiduciary duty. Whether the proof ultimately bears this out is for another day.'”
• “‘Because Benesch’s alleged breach of duty is on appeal in Illinois, the first element—whether a fiduciary duty was breached—may be unresolved,’ Dorancy wrote. ‘Once the issue is resolved, the court finds the analysis regarding the aiding and abetting claim may change as they may be foundational to the claim of aiding and abetting.'”

“Reed Smith Blasts DQ Attempt As ‘Litigation Gamesmanship’” —

• “A shareholder of the Venezuelan airline Avior Airlines has urged a Florida federal judge to reject a bid to disqualify his counsel at Reed Smith LLP and attorney Ana R. Ulseth, arguing that the push to disqualify the firm is not about ethics but rather ‘litigation gamesmanship.'”
• “Jorge de Jesus Añez argued in a response Thursday that a motion to disqualify his counsel is a baseless tactic since its work in the disputes hasn’t created any conflicts. Añez added that the motion filed by feuding shareholders is ‘procedurally improper, legally unfounded, and factually misleading.'”
• “The petitioners, shareholders Luis A. Suarez Magual, Moises Maionica and Carlos Kauffmann, argued that the engagement of the law firm was not approved by a majority of the shareholders as required by the company’s bylaws. They say Añez has taken control of Avior in spite of an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration award stating that they own 50% of the airline.”
• “They also pointed to a November 2020 decision by former Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman that found the Suarez group holds a 50% stake in Avior.”
• “‘Nothing approved by the illegitimate board is a valid corporate act, including the retaining of Reed Smith as counsel,’ the Suarez group said in their motion. ‘As evidenced by Ms. Ulseth and Reed Smith’s appearance, Añez continues to operate Avior as if the Hanzman order, the ICC award and Avior’s by-laws do not exist.'”
• “None of the members of the Suarez Group, as 50% owners of Avior, approved or ratified Ulseth and Reed Smith’s representation of the airline, according to their August motion to disqualify. They said Avior is operating with an illegitimate board that was unilaterally appointed by Añez.”
• “Ulseth and Reed Smith also have a conflict of interest due to their dual representation of Avior and Añez, according to the motion. That’s because Ulseth and Reed Smith also represent Añez in the related case, called Jorge Anez v. Luis Suarez, Carlos Kauffmann and Moises Maionica, as well as Avior Airlines CA et al. v. Luis Suarez, both in Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit.”
• “But Añez said the other shareholders set forth a narrative in their motion that is ‘riddled with misrepresentations.'”
• “‘They distort the factual record, mischaracterize the nature and scope of Reed Smith’s involvement in the relevant cases, and mislabel claims to suit their agenda — going so far as to describe Mr. Añez’s individual damages suit as a ‘derivative action,’ despite the clear allegations to the contrary,’ Añez said.”
• “He added, ‘In reality, Reed Smith’s representations have been narrow, nonoverlapping, and entirely consistent with the ethical rules.'”
  “Aside from those concerns, Añez argued that the court does not need to decide on the merits of the motion because it fails for two independent and dispositive reasons. The first being that the other shareholders lack standing to even bring the motion… Additionally, even if the group had standing, they waived any right to challenge Reed Smith’s representation because they’ve known about the alleged conflict for more than a year and half and still ‘actively litigated against Reed Smith without objection, including at hearings and depositions, and engaged in extensive conferral regarding attorneys’ fees in the postjudgment case.'”

“Prosecutors may move to oust James Comey’s defense lawyer” —

• “Federal prosecutors signaled Sunday that they may seek to boot Patrick Fitzgerald, James Comey’s lead defense attorney, because of Fitzgerald’s alleged involvement in disclosures to the media shortly after President Donald Trump fired Comey as FBI director in 2017.”
• “In a submission Sunday evening, prosecutors suggested to U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff that Fitzgerald, Comey’s lawyer and close friend, could have an insurmountable conflict of interest as a result of the disclosures.”
• “The prosecutors asked the judge to quickly approve a proposal for a ‘filter team’ of lawyers to sift through evidence in Comey’s criminal case that could clarify Fitzgerald’s role in the 8-year-old disclosures — without breaching Comey’s attorney-client privilege.”
• “Prosecutors proposed the ‘filter team’ to the court last week, but in the new filing they said the request has particular urgency because Fitzgerald played a role in Comey’s release of information that officials later deemed classified.”
• “‘Based on publicly disclosed information, the defendant used current lead defense counsel to improperly disclose classified information,’ prosecutors Tyler Lemons and Gabriel Diaz wrote. ‘This fact raises a question of conflict and disqualification for current lead defense counsel.'”
• “Fitzgerald fired back at prosecutors Monday morning, accusing them of attempting to ‘defame’ him with demonstrably false allegations.”
• “‘There was no ‘leaking’ of classified information to the press by either Mr. Comey or his counsel. Full stop,’ Fitzgerald and other defense attorneys wrote.”
• “About a month after Comey was fired, he acknowledged during Senate testimony that he asked another lawyer and friend, Columbia law professor Daniel Richman, to give versions of memos he had written about his conversations with Trump to The New York Times in a bid to make sure a special counsel was named to investigate Trump’s conduct.”
• “The inspector general report found that some of the information Comey shared with his attorneys was classified and faulted him for sharing sensitive investigative information with outsiders and the media, but also found no evidence ‘that Comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos to members of the media.'”
• “Fitzgerald argued in the filing Monday that he and Comey acted appropriately in that episode and that Comey shared information with him as he mulled his legal options related to the firing.”
• “‘After Mr. Comey was fired on May 9, 2017, he sought legal advice with respect to his termination and with regard to having witnessed behavior by the President that he considered unlawful,’ Fitzgerald wrote. He said Comey attempted to segregate some memos with classified information from others he deemed unclassified, but that others came to different judgments after the fact and deemed a portion of one memo he’d shared with his lawyers to be classified at the lowest level used by the government.”
• “The Inspector General report noted that the FBI moved to delete the materials Fitzgerald received from his email accounts — and that Fitzgerald, a former U.S. Attorney in Chicago, ‘voluntarily and promptly’ cooperated.”
• “The prosecution’s filing came one day before Comey’s lawyers are scheduled to file their first substantive motions in the case. Comey’s lawyers are set to seek to dismiss the case on grounds of selective and vindictive prosecution as well as on the grounds that the Trump-appointed prosecutor who brought the case, Lindsey Halligan, was not lawfully installed as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.”