A Law Firm, A Private Equity Firm and a Nasty Lawsuit
Practicing law in the private equity world can be very profitable for law firms that represent major players in this industry. But a cautionary tale now is being written in a New York court. Mayer Brown, a blue chip law firm, is being sued by private equity player Thomas H. Lee Partners. The Boston based buyout firm accuses Mayer Brown of, among other things, handling numerous fraudulent transactions at the behest of Refco's executives between 2000 and 2005. The result, says THL, is that THL and its investors lost a ton of money because of Refco's fraud that was aided by Mayer Brown.
Part 2 happened earlier this month, when Refco's shareholders, led by the giant bond fund Pacific Investment Management, also sued the law firm and one of its lawyers, and made some of the same accusations.
The law firm denies all claims.
More about those claims and how big investors and Joe Public might have been hurt in future blogs.