Citing a “wave of media attention,” Houston mass tort firm AkinMears and partners Truett Akin IV and Michelle Mears on Nov. 2 dropped efforts to seal a petition filed against them by a former employee. In the petition, Amir Shenaq alleges that the firm fired him in July because it didn't want to pay him millions in commissions and fees for his work raising capital for the firm.

On Nov. 2, the defendants in Shenaq v. Akin filed a notice of withdrawal of their motion to seal the original petition. On Oct. 7, 157th District Judge Randy Wilson signed an order temporarily sealing the petition, and a hearing on a permanent seal was set for this week.

In the notice to withdraw, the defendants say that the damage to AkinMears, its clients, and others as a result of disclosures in the petition has already been done by the “wave of media attention” generated by the plaintiff's “intentional and completely unnecessary” disclosure of the firm's confidential, proprietary and trade secret information.