Top U.S. appellate lawyer Neal Katyal is set to square off against Ford Motor Company and his former law firm in a fight over $100 million in allegedly fabricated attorney billing records.
Ford is trying to revive a lawsuit it filed against attorneys from Los Angeles-based Knight Law Group who allegedly defrauded the automaker in a years-long overbilling scheme. Ford brought on Hogan Lovells Cadwalader – Katyal's longtime firm before the star litigator joined Milbank last year – to press its case at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Leading the Hogan Lovells team for Ford, which filed its opening brief on Monday, is Jessica Ellsworth, who has represented Google in litigation over its Play store and Danco Laboratories in cases surrounding its abortion drug mifepristone.
Katyal, a former acting U.S. solicitor general under Democratic President Barack Obama, began defending Knight Law Group last year, joining a defense lineup that includes Foley & Lardner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Williams & Connolly. Katyal said he is planning to lead the appeal.
Ford alleges the Knight firm defrauded carmakers by submitting false and inflated fee applications and demands under California's Lemon Law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, which lets lawyers collect legal fees based on reasonably incurred time spent representing vehicle owners.
The company's lawsuit said there were "numerous" alleged instances of lawyers billing more than 24 hours in a day. One Knight partner billed for more than 57 hours of work on one day, the carmaker alleged.
A federal judge dismissed Ford's case in November and again in March, finding that the lawyers were immune under a legal doctrine known as Noerr-Pennington, which stems from the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protection of the right to petition the government.
Ford argued in its appellate brief that Noerr-Pennington does not apply to allegations of litigation fraud and perjury under RICO.
Ford counsel Doug Lampe said in a statement that if the district court ruling is allowed to stand, "it means that there is no civil remedy when lawyers lie, cheat and steal as long as such behavior is done in furtherance of litigation."
Katyal and other attorneys representing Knight Law attorneys had no comment on Ford's appellate brief.
A spokesperson for Hogan Lovells Cadwalader declined to comment. Lampe said in a statement that the automaker has a long-term relationship with Hogan Lovells, which has represented the company in dozens of appeals.
The Knight Law Group has argued that Ford's lawsuit is an effort "to chill and punish its litigation adversaries — law firms, lawyers, and staff who represent consumers harmed by Ford's defective vehicles and fraudulent conduct."
The case is at least one of 20 such actions Ford and other major companies have filed invoking civil RICO provisions against lawyers in U.S. federal courts over the last two years. Civil plaintiffs can have their damages tripled under RICO; Ford said it was seeking more than $100 million.
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