Ex-Sichenzia Ross Partner Sues Baker Botts for $35M, Alleging Extortion on Behalf of Ex-Client
Harvey Kesner alleges that Baker Botts threatened to alert federal authorities and sue him on behalf of his former client, MabVax, if he did not pay $9.6 million. Mabvax is currently suing Kesner with other representation.
January 24, 2020 at 06:26 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on The American Lawyer
Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM
Harvey Kesner, a former partner at New York-based securities litigation firm Sichenzia Ross Ference, is suing Baker Botts and one of its partners for $35 million, accusing the Am Law 100 firm of extortion for its threats to sue on behalf of his former client, who is separately suing Kesner for alleged conflicts and fraud.
Kesner's suit, filed Tuesday in federal court in New York, alleges "racketeering, tortious interference with contract and business expectancies, intentional infliction of emotional distress, prima facie tort, and misconduct" by Baker Botts and partner Jonathan Shapiro.
The allegations center on Shapiro's work for Kesner's former client, California biotech company MabVax. That company is now represented by a different law firm, Block & Leviton, in ongoing litigation against Kesner and Sichenzia Ross.
Asked for comment on Kesner's suit, Baker Botts denied the allegations, also noting the litigation currently pending against Kesner and Sichenzia Ross. "This complaint has no basis in fact or law," a Baker Botts spokesperson said in a statement Friday.
The latest complaint by Kesner stems from his dispute with MabVax, which turned to Baker Botts and Shapiro in 2018, according to the complaint.
Kesner alleges that Shapiro and Baker Botts told him he must pay Baker Botts $9.6 million to account for acts of "fraud, breaches of duty, defalcations and other misfeasance" he committed while representing MabVax.
Kesner, after being sued separately by MabVax in California without Baker Botts representation, lost his partnership at what was Sichenzia Ross Ference Kesner, the complaint said. The punitive damages Kesner is seeking stem from him being forced out of his firm.
In his complaint, Kesner alleges that Baker Botts and Shapiro never filed any suit related to Mabvax's claims. However, MabVax did sue Kesner and his former firm in California, with Block & Leviton as representation.
MabVax sued a group of defendants including Kesner, Sichenzia Ross Ference and other lawyers from the firm in September 2018, alleging that they failed to disclose conflicts of interest, failed to maintain client confidentiality, and failed to provide proper legal advice on financial reporting requirements.
Sichenzia Ross represented MabVax in matters related to SEC reporting, including an SEC investigation, MabVax's complaint said. The company alleged that Kesner and the firm held their own investments in MabVax and had relationships with the company's other investors. It also alleged that the lawyers shared confidential information about MabVax with other investors to the company's detriment.
MabVax's suit against Sichenzia Ross was transferred to federal court, after initially being filed in San Diego Superior Court, and it survived a motion to dismiss in May of last year.
But before that, Kesner's complaint alleges, Baker Botts threatened to sue him and implicate him with criminal authorities if he did not pay the $9.6 million. The firm also delivered a draft complaint to him in New York, Kesner alleged.
The complaint alleges that Kesner suffered from "extreme emotional and physical distress under the repeated threat that Baker Botts would use its power, Washington connections, and position of trust as MabVax's legal counsel to 'turn in' Kesner to the [Dept. of Justice] and SEC and promote their case," according to the complaint.
He is seeking $10 million in compensation, wants that amount tripled to $30 million for damages and requests $5 million in punitive damages along with coverage of legal fees and administrative costs.
Kesner's attorney, Robert Buschel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Sichenzia Ross, reached Friday, said "Sichenzia Ross Ference is not a party to the litigation, and has no comment." Kesner is no longer listed on the firm's website.
This is not the first time Kesner's removal from a law firm led to litigation. He sued Haynes and Boone in federal court in 2010 after he was asked to leave the firm, and the firm struck back by suing him in Texas state court. They later settled the dispute.
Read More
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Paul Hastings, Recruiting From Davis Polk, Adds Capital Markets Attorney
3 minute read
Neighboring States Have Either Passed or Proposed Climate Superfund Laws—Is Pennsylvania Next?
7 minute readTrending Stories
- 1New York-Based Skadden Team Joins White & Case Group in Mexico City for Citigroup Demerger
- 2No Two Wildfires Alike: Lawyers Take Different Legal Strategies in California
- 3Poop-Themed Dog Toy OK as Parody, but Still Tarnished Jack Daniel’s Brand, Court Says
- 4Meet the New President of NY's Association of Trial Court Jurists
- 5Lawyers' Phones Are Ringing: What Should Employers Do If ICE Raids Their Business?
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
