Law Firm Brawl Escalates With A Defamation Suit

A Chicago litigation boutique, after being sued by an aggressive Chicago plaintiff firm, has fired back with its own defamation lawsuit. The plaintiff firm in the original suit, Edelson, caused a stir and some trepidation among law and other service firms, because in targeting law firm Johnson & Bell it makes a case for cybersecurity liability even where no known breach has occurred. Edelson has previously made a name for itself by suing some of the worlds’s biggest tech companies over privacy violations. It its complaint against Johnson & Bell, which represents major U.S. and international companies, Edelson alleges “legal malpractice, breach of contract, negligence, unjust enrichment, and/or breach of fiduciary duty,” arguing that the firm failed to provide the security it promised. Johnson & Bell’s defamation suit maintains Edelson’s malpractice and other claims are “completely false” and accuses the law firm of manipulating the legal system and the threat of negative publicity to leverage settlements, and it asks for more than $1 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages.