A New York lawyer is suing his former firm for more than $75 million.
Gregory Berry’s claim states that representatives from Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman told him the firm “valued intelligence and creativity, then reprimanded and ultimately fired him for exhibiting those traits.” He’s seeking $25 million in compensatory damages, and at least $50 million in punitive damages. The firm’s managing partner told the Wall Street Journal Law Blog that this is “a frivolous lawsuit by a terminated associate who recently received a substantial severance payment.”
Berry was hired by Kasowitz Benson in September 2010, after summering at the firm the year before. He claims that he was assured that Kasowitz Benson “was an aggressive and creative firm that values intelligence, ambition, and drive, and eschews the artificial hierarchical structures of traditional law firms,” but that he discovered that “virtually every representation the firm had made about itself was false.”
A former software engineer who switched to law and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Berry claims to have been told he “burned bridges” after sending an email to firm partners espousing his virtues over those of other associates. “I have as much experience and ability as an associate many years my senior, as much skill writing, and a superior legal mind to most I have met,” his email read. “If you will allow me to manage some cases for you I can guarantee without reservation that you will get a better result than you get now with many of the official resources you have available to you.”
None of Berry’s claims have been proven in court. The WSJ Law Blog has a copy of the suit here.
Photo by Christoph Anton Mitterer