A lawsuit filed by a partner in Chicago-based law firm Winston & Strawn is headed back to court after being reinstated July 5 by a New York appellate court. Anthony LoFrisco, 73, who works in Winston's New York office, alleges he is a victim of “decompression”–a firm policy that reduces bonus pay by 25 percent a year for partners 65 and older–and that as a result the firm shortchanged him about $6.5 million.

According to the suit, LoFrisco has been one of Winston & Strawn's top revenue generators, thanks in large part to his long-term business relationship with former General Electric CEO Jack Welch. Winston agreed in 1994 to pay LoFrisco “additional compensation” based on a percentage of revenue from certain clients like GE, but this compensation would be subject to decompression beginning in 2001–which would phase out LoFrisco's bonuses, leaving him “fully decompressed.”

The suit alleges that in early 2001, LoFrisco renegotiated with Winston, and the firm, keeping in mind LoFrisco's valuable business relationships, agreed to continue with the 1994 agreement on a year-by-year basis. LoFrisco's 2002 bonus was not subject to decompression; however, his 2003 and 2004 bonuses were sharply reduced. LoFrisco alleges this was because the firm wanted to avoid its contractual obligations following the September 2001 retirement of GE's Welch.

Winston contends the 2001 agreement was a supplement to and not an extension of the 1994 agreement, and so the decompression provision and formula still would have applied.

A New York court threw out the case in 2005, with the judge saying the plain language of the 2001 decision gave the firm freedom to decide how to compensate LoFrisco. The appellate court reversed, finding the 2001 decision is “reasonably susceptible to more than one interpretation” and should go to trial.