Atlanta City Hall. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)Atlanta Fires Back at Morgan Lewis With New Lawsuit in Pension Fight
The lawsuit focuses on payments to Morgan Lewis from two pension funds the firm represents in litigation against the city.
February 09, 2018 at 06:31 PM
3 minute read
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius represents two pension funds in their lawsuit against the city of Atlanta, but this week the city took the firm to court over how it's being paid.
The city's lawsuit, filed Thursday in Fulton County Superior Court, alleges the firm assisted the chairs of the General Employees' Pension Fund Board of Trustees and the Police Officers' Pension Fund Board of Trustees in withdrawing nearly $1 million in pension assets to pay for their own ongoing lawsuit against the city. The funds sued the city late last year over an ordinance that consolidated the two, as well as a third that is not party to the lawsuit.
“The city recently became aware that hundreds of thousands of dollars were removed from the [General Employees' Pension Plan] and paid to Morgan Lewis in connection with legal challenges to the ordinances, including the evaluation, development, preparation, and filing of the litigation,” the lawsuit said.
A spokeswoman for Morgan Lewis declined to comment.
Atlanta is represented by city lawyers as well as Baker & Hostetler's S. Derek Bauer, Ian Byrnside and Jacqueline Menk. Bauer and Byrnside were also involved in an open-records suit that prompted investigations into the USA Gymnastics team.
The other defendants include the two chairs of the funds as well as Zenith American Solutions, a Maryland administration services company. The city seeks an injunction against the firm and Zenith on the grounds that both are “direct or indirect” custodians of the plan assets.
The lawsuit claims the litigation over the ordinance is “primarily for the benefit, and to promote the personal interests of, certain individual trustees.” The use of fund assets to finance the litigation, the lawsuit contends, violates the chairs' fiduciary duties to the city, taxpayers and plan participants.
The lawsuit asks for a permanent injunction ordering the defendants to provide records of the money removed from the plans for the litigation, to return money taken, and blocking the chairs from using funds for litigation.
Read the lawsuit here:
|This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
Fowler White Burnett Opens Jacksonville Office Focused on Transportation Practice
3 minute read
On The Move: Polsinelli Adds Health Care Litigator in Nashville, Ex-SEC Enforcer Joins BCLP in Atlanta
6 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Trump and Latin America: Lawyers Brace for US's Hardline Approach to Region
- 2Weil Advances 18 to Partner, Largest Class Since 2021
- 3People and Purpose: AbbVie's GC on Leading With Impact and Inspiring Change
- 4Beef Between Two South Florida Law Firms Deepens With Suit Over Defamation
- 5Judge Skips Over Sanctions in Talc Bankruptcy: 'That’s A No'
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
