A former client has sued Greenberg Traurig, alleging the firm switched sides and used its knowledge of privileged intellectual property information from previous patent work to attempt to invalidate a patent for a new client's benefit.

Apollo Enterprise Solutions Inc. filed suit May 5 against Greenberg Traurig and 20 other unnamed defendants in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, citing breach of duty, interference with contract and negligence. Apollo, represented by Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert of Santa Monica, is demanding at least $2 million for punitive damages, interest and costs.

The case stems from an ongoing collection action case Apollo filed against Lantern Credit in March. Apollo and Lantern had a contract where Apollo, in addition to developing and providing a range of other information technology services, provided its TrueCollect service. The service aims to combine online payment, debt collection and debt recovery technologies into one efficient offering. In exchange, Lantern Credit would pay $5 million for a first term and $6 million for a second term, according to the complaint.