The festive season is already going to be a little dimmer than most years thanks to the pandemic and global economic meltdown. But over at Kasowitz, the holidays are just another opportunity to extend their brand — a brand that’s recently gotten them openly mocked by the Lincoln Project — by suing their own custodial staff.
The NY state court summons — dated last week — names ABM Janitorial Services Northeast and Quality Building Services as defendants in an action for “breach of contract, breach of the implied warranty of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment,” arising out of alleged overpayments to the tune of $563,717.31.
Obviously the summons doesn’t provide a lot information and the complaint is not readily available online yet, so we can’t pass judgment on the merits of this action. Could Kasowitz be trying to recover payments for custodial services charged while out of the office? Because that could drastically change what a client might need from a janitorial contract. On the other hand, custodial services are broader than just picking up after people who leave a cloud of crumbs around their desk after eating their fourth straight meal in the office and a lot of what they do is necessary even if no one is showing up. And how many months does it take to get half a million behind before it gets to this point? It will be interesting to see the whole scope of this action.
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But aside from the substance of the claim, as we often point out, the business of law is as much about the business as it is the law and sometimes discretion is the better part of valor when it comes to protecting the former. After a public clowning for advancing claims that Jared Kushner was defamed by his own direct quote and coming off a year that saw a disturbing revenue miss, maybe the holidays isn’t the time to pick a public fight with service personnel.
I mean… wait until January at the very least!
(Feel free to check out the summons on the next page.)
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Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.