I love a good turn of phrase. So when a lawsuit, filed against a major Biglaw firm, alleges “History teaches that corporate corruption, financial fraud, and economic skullduggery cannot be perpetrated without the willful conniving of lawyers” and add to the mix a contentious divorce of high-powered people, well, it’s going to catch my attention.
Anyway, Scott Hassan, an entrepreneur and unofficial “third founder” of Google, and his wife, Allison Huynh, are getting a divorce, which Huynh filed for in 2015. Morrison & Foerster represented Hassan in various dealings as well as the couple’s joint assets. According to the complaint, MoFo partner Paul “Chip” Lion continued to represent Hassan and the couple’s joint ventures after a judge disqualified the firm from advising Hassan in the divorce proceeding. As Law.com reports, Huynh alleges there was an effort by Hassan to “cheat[] his spouse out of her rightful share of community property.”
Huynh says the firm “orchestrated a fire-sale” of the assets of robotics company Suitable Technologies, which she has a half interest in, according to the complaint. She alleges the deal was an effort to score a personal tax benefit of more than $90 million for Hassan.
“Although Plaintiff was successful in thwarting the sale—the Court of Chancery found that the sales process ‘inspire[d]’ concern, was driven by Hassan’s desire to obtain a personal tax benefit, and that ‘there’s good reason to believe that Suitable Technologies’ asset value approximates or even exceeds $100 million—she incurred substantial professional fees in doing so,” Huynh’s attorneys write. “These fees, which she was unable to recover in the dissolution action, total more than $1.1 million.”
And the complaint takes a mighty swing at the Biglaw firm, suing Lion and MoFo for breach of fiduciary duty, and negligent and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage:
“Morrison & Foerster is a sophisticated, international law firm and a prominent presence in the Silicon Valley legal community,” the lawsuit alleges. “Lion has been practicing in the field for nearly 40 years. They should know better. The only deterrent for such reprehensible betrayal of a client is a significant award of compensatory and punitive damages.”
A representative for MoFo denied the allegations: “We deny all the allegations made by the Plaintiff against the Firm and its representatives and we will address them in the proper forum.”
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).