Bankruptcy Law
LeClairRyan trustee settles with last president of law firm
Photo illustration by Brenan Sharp/ABA Journal.
LeClairRyan’s bankruptcy trustee has reached a settlement with the defunct law firm’s last president and four lawyers serving on its board in 2019.
Details of the settlement weren’t disclosed, Law360 reports.
Trustee Lynn Tavenner had sought to claw back $2.37 million from those lawyers, including $419,000 from the firm’s last president, Elizabeth Acee, according to Law360. Tavenner said the money was paid out after LeClairRyan became insolvent in 2014 and before its bankruptcy filing in September 2019.
Tavenner had claimed that the board was aware of the firm’s precarious financial position but took actions that favored members’ interests or the interests of particular stakeholders.
Tavenner previously reached settlements with at least six other LeClariRyan leaders. She also settled with the firm’s primary insurer for nearly $9.5 million and with alternative legal services provider UnitedLex for $21 million, the Law360 article reports.
Tavenner argued that UnitedLex entered into a joint venture with LeClairRyan that prioritized the joint venture’s financial gain over that of LeClairRyan’s creditors.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “LeClairRyan bankruptcy trustee targets firm co-founder, compares firm to movie ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’”
ABAJournal.com: “LeClairRyan trustee agrees to $21M settlement with company accused of contributing to losses”
ABAJournal.com: “LeClairRyan gave joint venture ‘unprecedented control’ and priority payments, bankruptcy trustee says”
ABAJournal.com: “Ex-LeClairRyan general counsel gets prison time, while firm insurer agrees to pay $10M to bankruptcy trustee”
