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Law firm Brown Rudnick, construction company end multi-million dollar fee fight

(Reuters) – US law firm Brown Rudnick and Austrian multinational construction company Christof Industries Global GmbH said Wednesday they are dropping dueling multi-million dollar claims stemming from their long-soured attorney-client relationship.

Their joint filing in Boston federal court did not contain details on any settlement, and attorneys for both sides did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

They have been engaged in settlement talks since November, court documents show.

Brown Rudnick sued Christ of Industries in 2021, alleging the industrial plant builder owed $8 million in attorney fees and interest from an international arbitration over a failed construction project in South Carolina.

Christof Industries countersued for $22 million, claiming the law firm routinely overbilled it for legal services. One attorney billed more than $145,000 for 231 hours preparing to examine one witness, while the firm billed more than 40 hours for assembling binders, the company said.

The case is Brown Rudnick v. Christof Industries Global GmbH, US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 1:21-cv-11964.

For Brown Rudnick: Blair Rinne, James Stoll and Stephanie Calnan of Brown Rudnick; and Nicole Carnevale and Susan Cohen of Peabody & Arnold

For Christof Industries: Benjamin Wish and Rachel Hutchinson of Todd & Weld

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David Thomas

Thomson Reuters

David Thomas reports on the business of law, including law firm strategy, hiring, mergers and litigation. He is based out of Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @DaveThomas5150.