Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM.

The wife of Scott Hassan, robotics entrepreneur and principal programmer of the Google search engine, is suing Morrison & Foerster for being a "willing architect and facilitator" of Hassan's scheme to "cheat" her out of millions of dollars after she filed for divorce in 2015.

In a suit filed Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court, Allison Huynh alleges that Morrison & Foerster violated its ethical and fiduciary duties when the firm picked sides after representing the couple individually in separate business matters.

"History teaches that corporate corruption, financial fraud, and economic skullduggery cannot be perpetrated without the willful conniving of lawyers," write attorneys from Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack in Los Angeles. "The same is true when a scheming spouse with money and power in an adverse proceeding is intent on cheating his spouse out of her rightful share of community property."

The complaint alleges that Paul "Chip" Lion, a Palo Alto MoFo partner, and the firm continued to represent Hassan and some of the couple's jointly owned businesses even after a family court judge disqualified them from advising him on the dissolution of their marriage.

"We deny all the allegations made by the Plaintiff against the Firm and its representatives and we will address them in the proper forum," a firm spokesperson said via email.

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."

Huynh is suing Lion and the firm 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."

And if ethics and a court order don't do the trick for the firm, "a massive financial penalty might just get its attention," the complaint states.