Baker McKenzie is dropping former Fox News star Tucker Carlson as a client after a former producer argued the firm had engaged in a conflict by also representing Fox.
“Mr. Carlson will be represented by separate counsel in this matter, who will enter an appearance reflecting as much,” New York-based Baker partner Paul Evans wrote to US District Court Judge Jesse Furman on Friday.
An attorney for former Fox producer Abby Grossberg, who had been the head of booking for Fox’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” show, raised the conflict issue in connection with a gender discrimination civil suit she had filed. Fox officials, including Carlson, had allowed for a misogynistic work environment, Grossberg alleges in her suit.
Baker’s representation of both Fox and Carlson—which had fired Carlson, spurring allegations of fraud and breach of contract—resulted in a clear conflict, Grossberg attorney Parisis Filippatos argued to Furman on May 9.
“As Baker McKenzie will not be representing Mr. Carlson in this case,” Evans told Furman on Friday, “the issues raised in Plaintiff’s counsel’s May 9, 2023 letter (which we do not concede have merit) are moot.”
The moves ended the need for a May 12 status conference Furman was set to hold on the issue.
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