Musical Chairs: McGuireWoods Fires Eliot Disner
As you may recall (from yesterday's Morning Docket), Eliot Disner is the McGuireWoods partner who criticized the settlement negotiated by his firm in an antitrust class action against Bar/Bri, the giant bar exam prep company.
Actually, make that "former McGuireWoods partner." From today's New York Law Journal:
Mr. Disner, who was a partner in the Los Angeles office of McGuireWoods, said the firm fired him May 23. "I was terminated because [McGuireWoods] said that my work on the BAR/BRI case had hurt the [firm's] reputation," he said. His concerns about the proposed settlement with West Publishing Corp., which offers BAR/BRI bar review courses nationwide, surfaced in an objection to the class settlement that was filed last week by three lead plaintiffs (NYLJ, May 21)....A hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Manuel Real on whether the $49 million settlement will become final is scheduled for June 18. Mr. Disner's brief, which was not supported by McGuireWoods, argues that the firm ought to press for at least $400 million from West Publishing, as well as for the breakup of BAR/BRI.
We titled an earlier post about the settlement You Are Probably $125 Richer Right Now. But if Eliot Disner is right, maybe another zero belongs on the end of that figure.
Study questions: Is the Bar/Bri settlement fair? Or has Bar/Bri screwed us yet again?
Law Firm Fires Partner Who Questioned BAR/BRI Settlement [New York Law Journal]
Bar/Bri Class-Action Objector is Fired [WSJ Law Blog]
The Intrigue Grows in Bar/Bri Class-Action [WSJ Law Blog]
Lawyer Who Sued BAR/BRI Now Questions the Settlement [American Lawyer]
(11) Comments
Perhaps if Mr. Disner is a fundamentalist Christian the DOJ will take him.
All the balding partners at McGuireWoods were jealous.
We represented the Nazis. If this happened at S&C, Disner would have simply been eliminated, quickly and quietly. No one can stop us.
Field Marshal DiBlasi OUT!
A ~$125/pp settlement doesn't seem quite fair in light of the claims alleged. We all know that we pay an insane amount for the BarBri course, and if there was a true competition out there for the bar test prep market, we wouldn't be paying between $2500 and $3500.
Is it true that at McGuireWoods, associates can see each other's hours in a list on the intranet ranking associates in the office from highest biller to lowest?
10:11 - Yes
Dammit! Does this mean because of Mr. Disner's blabbing, the settlement is now further delayed and/or screwed up and we might get nothing?
Sure I'd rather have $1250 too but $125 is better than nothing!
Damn you Mr. Disner! Don't you know that in class action lawsuits, plaintiffs are extemely lucky if they recover anything more than 5 cents of every dollar they lost?
I paid close to $3000 for BarBri, and because I work in public interest I had to take out a loan to do so, making the true cost of the course much, much higher. $125 is chump change.
His hairstyle inspired my book.
Disner is god. I read his brief. It persuaded me through its multiple ! points. I was waiting for emoticons.
That said, it was still pretty damn persuasive that MGW sold out the class.
is it true MWBB is a dying, vestigial relic of richmond glory?