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 Circuit.
Leading the Hogan Lovells team for Ford, which filed its opening brief on Monday, is Jessica Ellsworth. Katyal 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.
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.
Read more about the case and the lawyers on both sides, plus other law firm news in the latest Billable Hours.
