Tech Accountant Sued by Insurer for Retaining Paul Hastings

Online car repair service RepairPal Inc. and a former senior accountant, Aubrey Jackson Shelton II, were hit with a lawsuit alleging Shelton breached an insurance policy by retaining Paul Hastings LLP to represent him in an underlying criminal case without the insurer’s consent.

The directors and officers insurance policy issued to RepairPal required Scottsdale Insurance Co. to approve legal defense costs. But Shelton retained Paul Hastings without approval after the US Justice Department charged him with fraud, the insurer said in a complaint filed Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

Scottsdale, a Nationwide Mutual ...