The partners of Manhattan real estate law firm Lazarus, Karp & Kalamotousakis are feuding with each other in a new lawsuit, accusing one another of withholding files and diverting firm assets to their respective new firms.

Thomas Kalamotousakis said he created a verbal partnership with Chad Karp and Mark Lazarus in 2015 but told them in May 2019 that the firm should wind down because of "unresolved difficulties and disagreements" that weren't mentioned in his suit. Rather than amicably dividing the firm's assets and business, his ex-partners started funneling it to their new firm, Kalamotousakis claims in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

"[Lazarus and Karp] ignored the proposed actions set forth in plaintiff's notice of dissolution for the winding up of the partnership, and instead unilaterally and without plaintiff's consent … took a series of actions to deprive plaintiff of his rightful access to the partnership's financial and client records and to divert partnership assets, vendors and contracts to the partner defendants' newly formed law firm, defendant Lazarus Karp," his lawsuit alleges.

Kalamotousakis said he has been shut out of the firm's case management and accounting software. Adding insult to injury, he said, they had staff "hide mail addressed to the plaintiff."

But Karp, in an affidavit filed Thursday, said that Kalamotousakis was mistaken. He also accused his ex-partner of taking LKK funds that he wasn't entitled to.

Karp urged the court to reject his ex-partner's request that the firm be put in the hands of a receiver, saying it all came down to money — specifically, Kalamotousakis' demand for $500,000 in exchange for his equity.

On May 8, the day Kalamotousakis sent out a notice of dissolution, he changed the locks on his office, preventing his partners from accessing corporate records, vendor contracts and other important paperwork, Karp said. Kalamotousakis has since moved out of the Lazarus Karp space and only returns occasionally, Karp said.

A website for Lazarus, Karp & Kalamotousakis was still online Thursday afternoon, listing 10 attorneys and describing the firm's specialties as real estate transactions and litigation. The firm and its lawyers are listed as counsel in several landlord-tenant decisions posted online and its address is listed at 370 Seventh Ave.

But anyone who calls its offices is told by an automated message to press one for the Kalamotousakis Law Group and press two for Lazarus Karp. New York records say those entities were registered May 10 and May 9, respectively.

Kalamotousakis' suit seeks a court declaration that the firm was in dissolution as of May 8 and that Kalamotousakis had a right to participate in the dissolution process and access firm records. It also includes causes of action for an accounting, winding up and an adjudication of a lien for an unspecified amount of money.

Laleh Hawa of Cox Padmore Skolnik & Shakarchy is listed as counsel for Kalamotousakis; she didn't respond to a comment request.

Harry Lipman of Rottenberg Lipman Rich, who represents Lazarus and Karp, said his clients will fight the lawsuit and referred a reporter to their filings.