Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe has been sued by the administrator overseeing the liquidation of Coudert Brothers for delivering the "fatal blow" to the defunct firm by poaching partners while simultaneously holding merger talks, reports The New York Law Journal.

The suit against Orrick alleges that the US firm interfered with Coudert's business and aided and abetted in partners' breach of their fiduciary duty.

While the suit does not indicate a specific amount in damages, the total could be in the tens of millions of dollars, said William Brandt, the president of Development Specialists, the company administering Coudert's liquidation plan.

The lawsuit cites emails from Coudert and Orrick lawyers, including Orrick's chairman Ralph Baxter (pictured), to support claims that Orrick was simultaneously scheduling breakfasts and meetings with potential lateral partner hires while at the same time meeting with Coudert's management to discuss a merger.

Orrick's subsequent decision in 2005 to recruit partners in London and Moscow delivered the "fatal blow" to Coudert, as the departures tripped a requirement in Coudert's loan agreements for a minimum number of equity partners, the complaint says.

Orrick in a statement said that it "at all times acted properly in hiring Coudert attorneys who voluntarily chose to leave their former firm and affiliate with Orrick." The firm said it "will respond more specifically" to the complaint in court.

Coudert, which at its height had 28 offices in 15 countries, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2006. The Bankruptcy Court approved its liquidation plan in August 2008.

In total, Orrick picked up 12 Coudert partners in London and Moscow in May 2005 before the dissolution was announced in August that year. After the 600-lawyer Coudert decided to dissolve, Orrick acquired its China practice, which included offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong.

Orrick paid Coudert Brothers about $4.9m (£3.1m) in connection with acquiring those offices, the complaint says. The plan administrator called that "less than the fair value" of the assets. The China partners who went to Orrick also took with them "unfinished business" and the administrator said Coudert's estate was owed the profits from that business.

Orrick in its statement said with regard to its purchase of the China assets, "the parties negotiated the agreement at arms' length and in good faith, and the millions Orrick paid to Coudert on those contractual obligations reflect fair value."

Orrick earlier this year confirmed merger talks with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, before ending discussions two weeks later, while management at both Orrick and Dewey Ballantine approved a tie-up in 2006, only for talks to fall apart after several partners left Dewey, which then merged in 2007 with LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae to create Dewey & LeBoeuf.

P>The New York Law Journal is a US affiliate title of Legal Week.