Yesterday we invited those of you with firsthand knowledge of Aaron Charney to share what you know with us — whether pro- or anti-Aaron. We received some absolutely intriguing responses.
Neither of these comments is “firsthand firsthand,” so please file them under “rumor” rather than “news.” But they are both extremely interesting.
Both are somewhat negative about Charney. But, interestingly enough, they support different responses to this question:

Who is the real Aaron Charney: a crusader for justice with a sincere belief in his cause, or a money-hungry opportunist seeking to shake down his former (and deep-pocketed) employer?

The first comment we received:

I have a friend who knows Aaron Charney — and could not STAND him. Aaron is one of those people who is very opinionated, to a fault, and unnecessarily combative.

Once Aaron almost got into a fight with someone over — get this — a seat at a CLE presentation. Aaron was firmly convinced that the other guy had stolen “his” chair. The argument almost escalated into fisticuffs. Over a f***ing seat at a CLE seminar.

I’ll spare you the stupid details. But you get the picture. Aaron is easily offended, firmly convinced that he is right in all things, and willing to go to the mat for them.

Although negative, this comment does support a picture of Charney as someone with a genuine (some might say narcissistic) belief in his cause. It suggests that Charney truly thinks that he has been wronged — and that S&C must be brought to justice.
Here’s the second, even more juicy comment:

Here’s the reason Aaron went pro se. Aaron retained a lawyer initially and had bargained with S&C for a settlement, but he wasn’t happy with the amount of money they were offering him. So he fired the lawyer, thinking that a small amount of money would be bigger if didn’t have to split it.

But apparently, after Aaron fired the lawyer, S&C withdrew the offer. That’s when Aaron decided to escalate things by going public.

WOW — this is FASCINATING!!! If you can provide further confirmation, please email us. At this point, it’s just rumor.
But we wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it’s true. It would explain a lot:

(1) the mysterious period in between the initial incident of alleged harassment, in May 2006, and Aaron’s filing a pro se Complaint in New York Supreme Court, in January 2007;

(2) Aaron’s general skittishness about discussing his prior representation (and the circumstances of its termination); and

(3) S&C’s initial statement that it rejected his demand for a “multi-million dollar” settlement (i.e., they were willing to fork over a few hundred grand, but not seven figures).

Let’s say that the “small amount of money” was a few hundred grand — which, after you take a third of it out for fees, doesn’t go very far. This is especially true if it results in you leaving your firm under mysterious circumstances, thereby impairing your ability to land another Biglaw gig. So perhaps Aaron thought that he could go it alone, “cut out the middleman,” and save himself some dough (maybe $100,000 on a $300,000 settlement offer).
Unfortunately for him, Aaron may have miscalculated. After he dropped his counsel, S&C yanked its settlement offer. So it was erroneous for him to assume that he could have gotten an identical settlement offer without being represented by counsel (and coughing up fees to said counsel).
Then, after going commando pro se, Aaron arguably erred again. He played his cards too quickly, launching a public relations blitzkrieg. He broadcast his allegations against S&C, down to the tiniest detail, to the largest audience possible. Obviously that pissed off the S&C partners, presumably hardening them against settlement.
Now Charney finds himself in a difficult position. Because S&C has filed a countersuit, he’s a defendant as well as a plaintiff. He could end up paying a settlement rather than receiving one.
And once again, Charney has lawyers — a whole team of them, at two different firms. His net recovery, if any, will be reduced substantially to pay their fees. His original goal, eliminating the middleman, has clearly been frustrated (unless they’re handling the case pro bono — and we have no reason to believe they are).
So today Aaron Charney is arguably worse off than before, when he first hired a lawyer. Now he faces an angry and antagonized defendant — one of the nation’s biggest and richest law firms, with nothing to lose at this point.
Charney has spread his dirt about Sullivan & Cromwell far and wide. He no longer can engage in blackmail derive leverage from potential disclosure of that information; he has shot his proverbial wad. At this point, having been reduced to a Biglaw “Punchline of the Month,” S&C may have decided that it needs to fight back, take this thing to trial, and steamroll Aaron Charney.
To put it another way, in terms of his S&C scuttlebutt, which was his main bargaining chip, Aaron Charney may have “opened the kimono” prematurely. In fact, he arguably went much further:

“Aaron Charney opened the proverbial kimono, then flung it to the ground. He gave the world of Biglaw an enthusiastic, multimedia lapdance. Finally, he ‘bent over,’ and closed his act by dramatically producing a Lionel train set from his ‘special hiding place.’”

Aaron Charney, you got greedy. Then you made S&C mad — very mad. And now they will make you pay.
(Caveat: That preceding sentence — included for stylistic reasons, to give this post the requisite punchy conclusion — assumes the truth of rumor #2. As noted at the outset of this post, however, at this point the story is only an allegation. It’s just hearsay, mere rumor. You can believe or disbelieve it; it’s your choice. We’re just passing it along to you for your consideration, as we have previously passed along a great deal of pro-Aaron information.)
Update (12:28 PM): The WSJ Law Blog has an interesting post up about Aaron Charney’s ability to land another Biglaw gig.
Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Aaron Charney and Sullivan & Cromwell (scroll down)