Dentons' offices in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

The former chair of Dentons' government contracts group, Jessica Abrahams, claims in a lawsuit that the megafirm owes her close to $400,000 and that it bad-mouthed her to clients when she left the firm.

Dentons counters that Abrahams left with nearly $2 million in unpaid billings when she departed for Drinker Biddle & Reath a year ago, calling her suit a “diversion” from her own failures to meet her commitments to the firm.

Abrahams practiced at McKenna Long & Aldridge for more than a decade ahead of its merger with Dentons in 2015. After the firms merged, Abrahams' suit alleges, Dentons was bound by a side letter to its partnership agreement concerning its obligations to return capital to former McKenna partners if they left the firm. She alleges that, when she left Dentons for Drinker Biddle, the firm did not adhere to its commitment and demanded she repay a 2016 bonus.

Jessica Abrahams of Drinker Biddle & Reath

Her suit, filed Monday in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, demands $390,400 plus interest and fees. But while Abrahams' formal claims are for breach of contract or, in the alternative, conversion, her brief complaint also includes a single paragraph reciting a litany of alleged abuses and mismanagement at Dentons that she says led to her exit.

“Abrahams learned of numerous significant accounting and billing irregularities and resultant tax issues,” the complaint asserts. “The environment at the firm also was one that ignored open and obvious sexual harassment, and gender and age discrimination. Abrahams also found that Dentons' management rewarded personal relationships over merit in determining compensation and promotion. Further, Dentons consistently failed to make budget after the merger. Abrahams discovered after the merger that Dentons had failed to make budget for years before the merger, which was not disclosed to MLA's partners.”

Abrahams claims her attempts to leave the firm were hindered by Dentons' management. She alleges the firm's leaders “made false representations to multiple clients concerning the quality of her work in an unethical and unlawful attempt to persuade clients to stay with Dentons,” causing her largest client to not follow her to Drinker Biddle, where she leads the government contracts group.

Dentons blasted the allegations in an emailed statement Tuesday.

“Ms. Abraham's pleading is a kitchen sink attempt to publicly disparage Dentons that is tellingly void of substance as the firm fulfilled its obligations to her,” the statement said. “The reality is that, when Ms. Abrahams left, Dentons was owed more than $1.8 million from her clients and those fees and costs largely remain outstanding today. The complaint, which was filed after Dentons expressed concerns about these receivables and her compliance with her partnership obligations, is a blatant and baseless attempt to divert attention from these key facts and her failure to resolve these issues.”

Abrahams is represented by Mark London and Lance Robinson of London & Mead. An initial scheduling conference in the case is set for Aug. 16.

Abraham's complaint is below:

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