California Lawyer Faces Defamation Claim in Copyright Fee Fight

An attorney in California must face a defamation claim related to a fee dispute with another lawyer over a copyright suit, after a state appeals court ruled Thursday that the allegedly defamatory comments didn’t involve anticipated litigation.

Law Offices of Paul N. Philips APLC sued David P. Rudich and Law Offices of David Rudich to resolve a dispute stemming from an agreement under which they agreed to share legal fees in a music copyright infringement case with a high-profile client Rudich had introduced to Philips. The suit also included a defamation per se claim, based on alleged comments made by ...