A recruiter agency has agreed to dismiss the remainder of a lawsuit against Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, in another instance of a headhunter dropping a suit against a firm on the heels of an adverse court ruling.

Boston Executive Search Associates Inc. in the last week signed a stipulation for dismissal with prejudice in its lawsuit against Freshfields. The suit argued the law firm "hijacked" the recruitment of a leading M&A partner from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and wrongly cut it out of a placement fee.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns of the District of Massachusetts dismissed most of Boston Executive's claims against Freshfields in an eight-page decision in June, noting the parties didn't have a written agreement and that Massachusetts state law prohibits contractual claims for broker fees that aren't in writing. The remaining claim was based on a state law that broadly prohibits unfair or deceptive business practices.