King & Spalding Chair Fights Deposition In Ex-Atty's Suit
Share us on: By Sam Reisman
Law360, New York (September 26, 2017, 5:12 PM EDT) -- King & Spalding LLP asked a New York federal judge Monday to prohibit or limit to two hours a deposition of its chairman by a onetime senior associate accusing the firm of wrongful firing.
In a letter motion, the firm told U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni that chairman Robert Hays had no involvement in the decision to terminate David Joffe, a former member of King & Spalding's commercial litigation practice who alleges he was fired for raising ethics concerns about two partners.
"As the Chair of a law firm with more than 1,000 attorneys spread across 20 offices in 10 countries, Mr. Hays is a classic apex witness who should not be subject to deposition absent a showing that he has some unique knowledge regarding the facts at issue in this case," the letter said.
In an affidavit accompanying the letter, Hays noted that Joffe plans to depose eight current and former firm members who either worked on the underlying matter or were involved in Joffe’s performance evaluation and termination, each of whom, Hays wrote, has more pertinent information regarding the case.
"There is no basis for compelling Mr. Hays's deposition on K&S policies and procedures, particularly given the seven other depositions that have been noticed for present or former K&S partners and the notice of deposition for K&S's Chief Human Resources Officer," the letter states.
Judge Caproni gave Joffe until Friday to issue a response to the firm's letter.
Joffe filed suit against his former employer in May, alleging that the firm retaliated against him because he raised concerns about allegedly false statements made in 2014 to U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan by two firm partners, Robert F. Perry and Paul A. Straus, on behalf of then-client ZTE Corp., a Chinese multinational telecommunications company.
In addition to alleging that the firm terminated him as punishment for his actions, he contended in his complaint that the firm had violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by firing him weeks before about $20,000 in profit-sharing contributions made by the firm to his retirement account were set to vest.
Joffe, who had joined the firm in 2012, was told in December 2015 that he would not make partner. He was terminated in December 2016.
The firm denied most of the allegations of the suit, including Joffe’s assertion that he had been on pace to “significantly exceed” the firm’s 2,100 billable hour target for associates as of last fall, or that he was penalized for any alleged reporting of ethical breaches in the ZTE matter.
One of Joffe’s supervising partners, David Tetrick, advised Joffe at his fall 2016 review that “his career had plateaued, that he had failed to meaningfully participate in his own career development and that his overall performance was inconsistent with the firm’s expectations,” according to the firm's response.
Counsel for King & Spalding did not respond Tuesday to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the firm declined to comment on the matter.
Counsel for Joffe declined to comment.
Joffe is represented by Andrew M. Moskowitz of Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins PC.
King & Spalding is represented by Joseph Baumgarten, Pinchos Goldberg and Elizabeth Spector Louden of Proskauer Rose LLP.
The case is Joffe v. King & Spalding LLP, case number 1:17-cv-03392, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
--Additional reporting by Vin Gurrieri, Andrew Strickler and Pete Brush. Editing by Jill Coffey.
