Anyone remember Frederick Darren Berg? He's a guy who had a thing – nay, a passion – for charter buses. It just so happens that he also was running Washington's largest ever Ponzi scheme to finance his passion. Moss Adams (who Berg says is not at fault) was the auditor for FDB's Meridian funds – the vehicles for the scheme – and they're currently tied up in court with the Meridian investors' court-appointed trustee. Last month, MA's lawyers made it known that they didn't think too much of the plaintiff's case, calling it "flimsy." The attorney for the trustee, Michael Avenatti, found that curious because he claimed that MA was ready to settle for $25 million. MA called bullshit, saying no offer was ever made and now they'd prefer that this Avenatti character take a hike for making this up:
Moss Adams’ lawyers — Kelly Corr and Steven Fogg of the Seattle firm Corr Cronin Michelson Baumgardner & Preece LLP — say Avenatti made false statements and violated a confidentiality agreement by referring to the mediation negotiations.
Well, Avenatti wasn't about to let this go any further without explaining that A) he really didn't do anything wrong and B) he didn't have any choice but to spill the $25 million settlement story because opposing counsel was so mean:
“I kept all aspects of the mediation confidential and only disclosed Defendant’s $25 million settlement offer in direct response to Defendant’s false allegation that his lawsuit has no merit, is ‘frivolous,’ and “flimsy,” Avenatti said in a court filing.
I'm all for lawyers getting bent out of shape but it's really frightening to imagine what would happen if they all reacted this way every time someone called their lawsuits flimsy.
Moss Adams fires back at attorney behind Berg audit suit [PSBJ]