Chicago leader Kirkland & Ellis has become embroiled in legal proceedings after a former employee accused the US top 10 firm of unlawfully intercepting her mobile phone calls, Legal Week has learned.

In the claim, which was filed last week (16 April), Tammi Bowden alleges that for a period of seven months the firm was intercepting her phone calls without her knowledge or consent.

Bowden, formerly a secretary at the firm, has filed an 'emergency motion to initiate discovery', with the aim of persuading the court to serve subpoenas for telephone records which, it is alleged, prove there was interference of the calls by a third party.