King & Spalding “repeatedly” asked a client to pay what it owed the firm before a judge ordered it to find new legal counsel in a Texas patent infringement lawsuit involving Samsung electronics and appliances, a federal court filing shows.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne on Nov. 14 ordered Staton Techiya to retain new lawyers by Dec. 17 to represent it in the case after the judge said four King & Spalding attorneys representing the company could withdraw from Staton’s lawsuit against Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.