Jury verdict guts lawsuit by ex-King & Spalding associate

The company logo of the law firm King & Spalding is seen in their legal offices in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., May 5, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

(Reuters) – A former King & Spalding associate is on the brink of full defeat in his lawsuit against the firm after a Manhattan federal jury rejected his claims that he was fired for reporting ethical breaches in its work for a Chinese telecom company.

U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni on Tuesday ordered David Joffe to show cause as to why his remaining allegations of wrongful termination of benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act shouldn’t also be thrown out “given the record developed at trial.”

Caproni gave Joffe until Dec. 17 to respond. Prior to the trial, which began earlier this month, Joffe and his former firm agreed that the ERISA claim would not be decided by the jury.

The jury on Monday found that Joffe did not prove his claims that King & Spalding retaliated against him after he reported alleged misconduct involving his former colleagues at the firm.

Joffe claimed King & Spalding lawyers made a series of false statements to a federal judge presiding over a contract dispute between firm client ZTE Corp and patent prosecution company Vringo Inc, and that he believed he was ethically bound to report the alleged misconduct to the New York bar.

King & Spalding has denied Joffe’s allegations related to the ZTE case. The firm said it fired Joffe in December 2016 due to “mixed” performance reviews and “lack of engagement, lack of a meaningful chance of being promoted and complaints about poor quality work product.”

A spokesperson for King & Spalding said it was pleased with the verdict. The firm is represented by attorneys from Proskauer Rose, including Joseph Baumgarten.

Joffe did not respond to a request for comment.

Joffe is representing himself after his counsel at law firm Javerbaum Wurgaft Hicks Kahn Wikstrom & Sinins withdrew from the case in 2018. Caproni called Joffe an “unreasonably difficult client” in a September 2019 ruling allowing the firm to withdraw that was later upheld by the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

The case is Joffe v. King & Spalding, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1:17-cv-03392.

For David Joffe: pro se

For King & Spalding: Joseph Baumgarten and Pinchos Goldberg of Proskauer Rose

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King & Spalding to face jury in associate’s ethics, retaliation lawsuit