Last
week
AmLaw
100
firm
Polsinelli
filed
a
federal
lawsuit
against
a
former
partner
Louis
Mastriani.
At
issue
is
a
client
contingency
fee
of
$1.5
million
that
the
firm
alleges
Mastriani
wrongly
converted.
Mastriani
joined
Polsinelli
in
2022,
from
AMS
Trade.
That
firm,
while
no
longer
operating,
was
not
dissolved
as
contingency
fees
previously
earned
were
still
being
paid.
In
2023
one
of
those
clients
moved
its
business
to
Polsinelli,
with
the
understanding
the
contingency
fees
would
now
be
paid
to
the
new
firm.
As
reported
by Law.com,
the
complaint
alleges
that’s
not
the
way
it
went
down:
This
year,
Mastriani
led
a
favorable
settlement
agreement,
and
the
client
notified
Mastriani
that
the
entirety
of
the
payment
would
be
received
by
June
5
and
that
$1.5
million
would
be
awarded
to
Polsinelli.
However,
Mastriani
allegedly
failed
to
disclose
the
payment
information
to
Polsinelli
management
and
instead
falsely
told
the
client
that
the
money
was
to
go
to
AMS
in
the
fall—rather
than
immediately
to
Polsinelli,
the
complaint
said.
And
why
did
he
allegedly
do
that?
The
complaint
says,
“Mastriani’s
purported
justification
for
this
request
was
that
‘there
is
a
strong
possibility
that
I
may
be
joining
a
new
firm
in
a
couple
of
months.
If
I
do,
the
payment
would
be
made
to
that
firm,
which
I
will
then
pass
to
me
and
my
old
firm
[AMS].’”
But
the
client
refused
this
financial
arrangement
and
the
fee
was
paid
to
Polsinelli.
At
that
point
it’s
alleged
Mastriani
represented
the
fees
as
from
prior
work,
and
directed
non-attorney
staff
members
“to
‘process
and
transfer
the
funds
to
our
AMS
Trade
account
as
you
have
done
in
the
past.’”
A
few
weeks
after
this,
Mastriani
announced
he
was
leaving
Polsinelli
and
joining
Buchanan
Ingersoll
&
Rooney.
Mastriani
has
a
very
different
take,
naturally,
and
says
the
lawsuit
“is
the
culmination
of
a
campaign
of
ongoing
vindictive
retaliation
in
response
to
my
departure
from
the
firm,
a
departure
prompted
in
large
part
by
the
greed
and
deceit
of
management.”
“The
complaint
and
its
supporting
declaration
are
riddled
with
false
statements,
inaccuracies,
and
omissions
of
material
fact,
all
of
which
are
intended
to
gain
funds
from
my
former
firm
and
me,
to
which
Polsinelli
has
no
legal
or
equitable
entitlement,”
Mastriani
continued.
“If
Polsinelli
wishes
to
air
its
baseless
claims
and
dirty
laundry
in
a
public
forum,
then
so
be
it,
in
which
case
I
will
vigorously
defend
and
assert
my
own
legitimate
claims.”
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
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on
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@Kathryn1 or
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@[email protected].