Uber dials up new fights with plaintiffs lawyers

By Mike Scarcella, David Thomas and Sara Merken

July 24 (Reuters) - (Billable Hours is Reuters' weekly report on lawyers and money. Please send tips or suggestions to D.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com.)

As it grapples with a slew of lawsuits from passengers, ride-hailing giant Uber is again taking aim at members of the plaintiffs bar, accusing an attorney in one case of misusing confidential information and suing another group of lawyers for allegedly filing fraudulent personal injury claims.

In a lawsuit filed on Monday in federal court in Los Angeles, Uber said a group of lawyers had conspired with medical providers to create and submit artificially inflated medical bills.

Uber's complaint alleged “unscrupulous personal injury attorneys" were sending clients to medical providers for unnecessary or unrelated medical treatment in a kickback scheme designed to generate fraudulent injury claims.

"As this lawsuit shows, we won’t hesitate to act when we uncover misconduct on our platform," said Adam Blinick, who leads Uber’s state and local public policy team for the United States and Canada.

Uber said “fraud and legal abuse raise costs for everyone.”

Downtown LA Law, one of the firms named as a defendant, said in a statement that it stood by its work, and that Uber is more interested in attacking people "than addressing the real issue: a system where many drivers are left without adequate medical support after an injury."

Uber said in a statement that a network of lawyers, doctors and chiropractors were turning minor accidents into high-dollar lawsuits in states like California, "where insurance costs are already out of control."

Igor Fradkin, an attorney named as a defendant in the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a separate case, Uber asked a U.S. judge last week to stop a lawyer from allegedly using and sharing confidential corporate information produced in a series of lawsuits by passengers alleging they were sexually assaulted by the ridesharing service's drivers.

Uber accused lawyer Bret Stanley of misusing internal policy materials in the litigation in connection with other cases Stanley is pursuing against the company over vehicle crashes.

In a filing, Uber said it was "facing the risk of competitive harm from the repeated improper disclosure" of protected business materials. The company has denied any wrongdoing in the lawsuits.

Stanley, in a statement to Reuters, disputed Uber's allegation that he breached a so-called protective order in the litigation, and said he will respond to the claims in court this week.

Uber’s fights with plaintiffs lawyers go back years.

A federal judge in Manhattan in 2016 faulted Uber for authorizing what the court called an “intrusive and clandestine” effort to dig up dirt on a plaintiff and his lawyer in a price-fixing lawsuit.

More recently, Nevada's highest court in January rejected an effort by Uber and a political action committee called Nevadans for Fair Recovery to cap the contingency fees that lawyers can earn in civil lawsuits in the state to 20% of the amount their clients' recover.

Uber was a key backer of the ballot initiative, which would have amended Nevada law and taken effect in 2027. Opponents said the fee cap would have been the most restrictive in the country. The state high court in its ruling said the ballot initiative suffered from "misleading and confusing" language.

Uber is also a plaintiff in at least two other lawsuits filed this year against attorneys and firms in federal courts in New York and Florida alleging personal-injury related fraud.

The American Association of Justice, a trade group for trial lawyers, accused companies of targeting their adversaries in the plaintiffs' bar out of desperation.

“When bullies can't win on the merits, they resort to intimidation tactics against those who dare to stand up to them," the group told Reuters.

There are other recent examples of companies turning the tables on the lawyers who sued them.

Manufacturing giant 3M in June accused several attorneys in a lawsuit in federal court in Kentucky of pursuing fraudulent claims in the hopes of pressuring the company to settle. An early hearing in that case was scheduled for Thursday.

In March, plaintiffs law firm Simmons Hanly Conroy defeated a lawsuit in federal court in Chicago by plastic pipe maker JM Eagle that accused it of “systemic fraud and misconduct” over hundreds of asbestos personal injury cases.

Simmons Hanly said in a statement at the time that the firm would "not be intimidated by unwarranted legal attacks designed to smear its reputation and derail its pursuit of justice for victims of asbestos exposure."

-- Lobbying activity related to President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful" tax-and-spending bill, his shifting tariffs and other administration moves helped fuel a banner second quarter for some law and lobbying firms in Washington.

Ballard Partners, which has ties to the Trump administration, appeared to be the biggest winner. The firm said its federal lobbying revenue for the second quarter of 2025 rose more than 300% compared to the same period last year, and was up 47% from the first quarter, reaching $20.6 million.

-- French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte turned to Alexandria, Virginia-based law firm Clare Locke for their defamation lawsuit in Delaware alleging right-wing influencer Candace Owens has waged a lie-filled "campaign of global humiliation" against them by repeatedly claiming that Brigitte Macron is a man.

Lead counsel Tom Clare did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding his firm's involvement. Clare in a press release said that this "lawsuit is about bringing that truth to light and seeking justice for the Macrons by holding Ms. Owens to account."

Owens did not respond to Reuters' request for comment regarding the Macrons' lawsuit.

Clare Locke was founded in 2014 by Clare and his wife, Libby Locke, both of whom were formerly partners at Kirkland & Ellis. The firm was co-counsel to Dominion Voting Systems in the voting machine vendor's lawsuit against Fox Corp that netted a $787.5 million settlement in 2023.

-- In the year leading up to its merger with U.S. law firm Kramer Levin, global firm Herbert Smith Freehills recorded its highest-ever revenue and profits. The firm increased revenues by 4% to 1.358 billion pounds ($1.84 billion) and grew profits by 9.5% to 486.9 million pounds ($659.26 million) in the fiscal year that ended April 30, it said on Thursday.

The firm in June combined with New York-founded Kramer Levin as part of an effort to expand in the U.S. legal market. Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has 2,700 lawyers globally.

Other large global firms with UK roots pointed to their U.S. growth when they reported financial results this week. Linklaters on Tuesday said U.S. profits grew by 57% last year, and Clifford Chance on Wednesday reported an 18% increase in U.S. revenue.

Read more:

New law firms bank on 'boutique' edge

Clock ticks for Jackson Walker, US Trustee in ethics case involving ex-judge

Litigation funders get a boost in budget bill drama, court wins

($1 = 0.7386 pounds)