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The Tolson Firm LLC v. Sistrunk Jr.

Genuine issues of material fact remained in a dispute between law partners and an associate attorney arising after the associate attorney left the firm and took eight cases with her.

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This case involves a dispute between law partners, Hezekiah Sistrunk, Jr., and Jane Sams, a general partnership, d/b/a Cochran, Cherry, Givens, Smith, Sistrunk Sams, P.C. a/k/a The Cochran Firm, Atlanta collectively the Cochran Firm or the plaintiffs and a former associate attorney, Audrey Tolson, and her law firm, the Tolson Firm, LLC collectively Tolson or the defendants, following Tolson’s departure from the Cochran Firm. The plaintiffs allege that Tolson took eight cases with her when she terminated her employment with the Cochran firm and that five of the cases subsequently settled for a cumulative sum of almost three million dollars.

The defendants assert on appeal that trial court erred by denying summary judgment in their favor on the Cochran Firm’s claims for breach of duty of loyalty, tortious interference with contract, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, quantum meruit, and money had and received. Audrey Tolson also asserts that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment in favor of the Cochran Firm on her counterclaim for quantum meruit and unjust enrichment. For the reasons explained below, we affirm the trial court’s denial of summary judgment to the defendants on the plaintiffs’ claims for breach of fiduciary duty and duty of loyalty, as well as quantum meruit, but reverse the trial court’s denial of summary judgment to the defendants on the plaintiffs’ claims for money had and received, unjust enrichment, and tortious interference with contract. We also reverse the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to the plaintiffs on Audrey Tolson’s counterclaim for quantum meruit and unjust enrichment.

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