A
lawyer
in
Colorado
has
filed
a
lawsuit
against
his
old
firm.
That’s
not,
in
itself,
surprising.
Law
firm
breakups
happen
all
the
time,
usually
over
money
or
generalized
ill-will
over
management
clashes.
So
what’s
going
on
with
Tannenbaum
v.
Trost,
a
complaint
recently
filed
in
Denver?
15.
Mr.
Tannenbaum
opened
a
law
practice
in
2010.16.
In
2014,
Tannenbaum
and
Trost
decided
to
form
a
law
firm
together.17.
Tannenbaum
and
Trost
operated
the
law
firm
together
until
2015,
at
which
point
they
invited
a
third
partner,
Robert
E.
Burk,
a
friend
of
theirs
from
Law
School.18.
Thereafter
Tannenbaum,
Trost
and
Burk
ran
the
firm,
equally
sharing
duties,
profits
to
Tannenbaum’s
knowledge
at
the
time.
So
far,
so
good…
19.
Unbeknownst
to
Tannenbaum,
Trost
and
Burk
were
simultaneously
using
the
firm’s
offices
and
resources
to
film
pornography
which
was
distributed
for
significant
profit
using
various
websites
including
but
not
limited
to
TheBackroomCastingCouch.com
and
pornhub.com.
Remember
that
time
in
The
League
—
the
brilliant
FX
show
following
the
shenanigans
of
a
fantasy
football
league
—
when
Andre
finished
last
and
his
assigned
“punishment”
involved
the
gang
secretly
filming
a
porn
movie
in
his
well-appointed
loft?
Perhaps
I
was
too
quick
to
judge
that
plot
as
too
difficult
to
believe.
Tannenbaum
also
claims
that
his
partners’
filmmaking
efforts
“made
it
a
point
to
ejaculate
onto
the
possessions
of
Mr.
Tannenbaum.”
Friends,
this
is
why
work-from-home
policies
are
so
important.
But
it’s
not
just
about
the
porn:
21.
Despite
using
their
law
firm’s
money,
office
space,
and
network
for
production
of
their
videos,
Trost
and
Burk
did
not
inform
Tannenbaum
of
their
activities.22.
It
follows
they
did
not
share
any
of
the
substantive
revenues
they
made
from
their
production,
though
the
operating
agreement
of
the
firm
requires
them
to
do
so.
Fun
fact:
Cravath’s
partnership
agreement
also
explicitly
requires
sharing
porn
profits.
While
the
porn
allegations
make
for
quite
the
lede,
the
complaint
takes
a
sad
and
serious
turn
from
there.
Hopefully
this
is
a
case
that
can
be
resolved
amicably
and
the
folks
involved
get
access
to
the
resources
they
need.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
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of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
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Managing
Director
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Executive
Search.