Black Davis Polk Attorney’s Lawyer Seeks Exit Over Pay, Strategy

A lawyer representing a Black former associate suing Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP for alleged race discrimination and retaliation asked the judge to let him withdraw as counsel for nonpayment of fees and fatal disagreements over litigation strategy, New York federal court records show.

Martin E. Restituyo told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia June 19 that Kaloma Cardwell hadn’t paid him for representing Cardwell beyond the retainer paid when Restituyo first took the case in November 2018.

Judge Gregory H. Woods on Sunday signed an order setting a hearing on the motion for Tuesday.

Cardwell sued Davis Polk and seven of its partners in November 2019 under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and New York state and city job bias laws, and amended his complaint in March to add an eighth partner as a defendant.

He accuses the firm of repeatedly manipulating and weaponizing its job review process against him because he complained he was harmed by a persistent tradition of race bias against Black lawyers at Davis Polk. The firm previously acknowledged when it adopted an anti-discrimination mechanism designed to ensure equal job terms and conditions regardless of race, Cardwell says.

The nonpaymernt of legal fees has been recognized by both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Southern District of New York as a valid reason for allowing an attorney to stop representing a client, Restituyo said.

The lawyer said he and Cardwell also have “diverging and irreconcilable views with respect to the appropriate strategy to employ in this litigation.” Those disagreements have “caused irreparable harm” his and Cardwell’s attorney-client relationship. That’s another valid reason in the Second Circuit for allowing counsel to withdraw from representation, Restituyo said.

Cardwell will still be represented by co-counsel David Jeffries, so he won’t be left without an attorney if the court grants the motion, the filing said.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP represents Davis Polk and the eight individual defendants.

The case is Cardwell v. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:19-cv-10256, hearing scheduled on motion to withdraw 6/22/20.