Litigation Details: AYS Complaint Alleges Misbilling, Trade Secret Misappropriation– by Rick Lovett at Prop. 65 News

Posted: 10/01/1999  browse the blog archive

Excerpted from the full length article at Prop. 65 News:

As You Sow’s complaint against Clifford Chanler is based on a mixture of contract, tort and statutory theories, including breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and misappropriation of trade secrets. In addition to Chanler, it names private litigant Michael DiPirro, and attorneys David Bush and Eric Somers as codefendants under at least some of these theories.

The breach of contract allegation centers on billing practices and an alleged $493,000 in office expenses which AYS says it advanced to Chanler but never received back. These expenses, the complaint alleges, included non-case-specific fax and photocopying charges, postage, telephone bills, office supplies, “overtime meals” for Chanler’s staff, taxi fares and on-line research fees. Despite “numerous requests,” the complaint alleged, Chanler provided time records and fee accounting on only two “isolated instances.”

The complaint also alleges that whenever AYS objected to Chanler’s fees, he countered that the applicable Proposition 65 settlement would “fall apart” if AYS did not agree to the fees. In addition, the complaint contends that Chanler repeatedly asserted courts had approved his fees as reasonable.

The fraud theory is based on many of the same allegations plus a charge that Chanler misrepresented himself to AYS as “a public interest lawyer who shared the environmental goals and philosophies of AYS and would undertake the work in behalf of AYS on a contingent basis that was favorable to AYS.” To the contrary, the complaint says, “Chanler crated and intended to use AYS as a vehicle to make money for Chanler and not to further the environmental goals and philosophies of AYS.”...

...AYS is represented by Thomas Hyde of the Hyde Law Corporation in San Francisco. The complaint was filed on January 19. Chanler is represented by James Boughey of the San Francisco firm of Boughey, Garvie & Bushner. link to source.