There have been a lot of recent lawsuits filed by women partners at Biglaw firms alleging gender discrimination. But none have been as intriguing as the purported class action lawsuit filed against Chadbourne & Parke.

The allegations in the complaint are juicy, natch, with Kerrie Campbell alleging she was paid less than her male counterparts and that the firm is in the “dark ages” when it comes to gender issues. But the really interesting part came earlier this week, when a group of 14 female partners at Chadbourne wrote a letter to Campbell’s attorney, David Sanford, taking issue with the lawsuit.

Now Sanford has responded.

You’ll remember one of the primary issues the group of 14 took with the lawsuit is that the case cannot be on their behalf, since Sanford didn’t speak with them. Indeed, they called it “patronizing and patriarchal,” arguing that failing to reach out to them before filing silenced their voices. Only one problem with that. Ethical rules prevent Sanford from doing that:

As you may know, many states, including New York, where the complaint was filed, prohibit lawyers from soliciting clients with whom they have no prior relationship. You represent that our firm “made no effort” to contact any of you and that this is an indication of our lack of respect for you. While we welcome the opportunity to speak with any female Chadbourne partner interested in finding out more about the case or their rights within a class action discrimination context, our unsolicited contact with any of you arguably would have violated the legal ethics rules that we strictly follow as responsible attorneys.

I love that Sanford took these Biglaw partners to task over legal ethics — though, to be fair, I don’t imagine the need to solicit plaintiffs comes up too frequently in their practice.

Sanford also notes that even though the women who signed the letter take issue with the lawsuit (though they don’t comment on any of the factual allegations in it), Campbell is far from a lone voice crying in the wind:

We have been contacted by current and former Chadbourne partners and associates, men and women, who feel the class action complaint captured well the claims of gender discrimination at Chadbourne. We expect to amend the complaint in October to reflect the additional information we have gathered.

Previous articles:

• Biglaw Firm Hit With $100 Million Class Action Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
• These Biglaw Partners Are Super Pissed Someone Filed a Class Action Lawsuit on Their Behalf

Next up on As The Biglaw Firm Turns: the amended complaint.

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