DLA Piper offices. Credit: Mike Scarcella / ALM

Three DLA Piper litigators in Dallas have withdrawn from defending recruiter Evan Jowers in a trade secrets suit filed by Austin's MWK Recruiting. Last month, a magistrate judge in Austin had criticized the DLA Piper team for how it handled a discovery dispute.

At that hearing on May 1,  a DLA Piper lawyer told U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Austin that  miscommunication led to the firm improperly identifying a court filing as "certified"—signaling it had conferred with MWK's lawyers in good faith before submitting the motion—when that was not true.

Austin aired his frustration at that hearing with the lawyers involved in the litigation, asking them to quit the "game playing" and instead focus on the facts of the dispute.

Whether that upbraiding prompted the DLA Piper litigators from Dallas to formally withdraw from the trial court litigation is unclear, even as the case heads toward a trial next February. Jowers said Friday that DLA Piper is still involved on his behalf.

In a motion filed on Wednesday, the DLA Piper lawyers asked to withdraw "because DLA Piper and Mr. Jowers are unable to reach agreement with respect to the continued development of this matter." U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman of the Western District of Texas granted the motion on Thursday.

The DLA Piper team includes Marc Katz, managing partner of the firm's office in Dallas, and associates James Bookhout and Marina Stefanova. Katz did not immediately return a telephone message, and Bookhout, who had apologized to Austin about how the certification was handled, said he could not comment.

MWK Recruiting, the parent of Kinney Recruiting and related entities, alleged in the complaint that Jowers used proprietary information and trade secrets to directly compete with MWK Recruiting companies, breaching a noncompete agreement. In an answer, Jowers alleged he was coerced into signing the noncompete, and alleged that he did not take trade secrets or confidential information because it was available elsewhere.

Jowers' new attorney, Robert Tauler of Tauler Smith in Los Angeles, who entered the case on May 8, declined to comment on why his former co-counsel withdrew. And Robert Kinney, owner of Kinney Recruiting, who is on the legal team representing MWK Recruiting in the suit against Jowers, declined to speculate.

But Jowers, now at recruiting firm Jowers Vargas, said on Friday that he asked Tauler to take the lead in the litigation, but the DLA Piper team will continue to work on appeals in the litigation.

The litigation has been contentious in several ways, with Kirkland & Ellis being chastised by Austin, who said the firm "should be embarrassed" after it fought a subpoena filed by Kinney seeking placement information. The firm ultimately complied.

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