Judge dismisses Ford lawsuit accusing law firms of overbilling

By David Thomas

Nov 24 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday dismissed Ford's F.N lawsuit accusing several California lawyers and law firms of fraudulently inflating their legal fees under the state's Lemon Law, including allegations that a single lawyer billed more than 57 hours in one day.

U.S. District Judge Michelle Williams Court ruled that the Knight Law Group and its co-defendants were protected by a legal doctrine called Noerr-Pennington immunity, which bars antitrust claims against parties that are petitioning the government even if they are advocating for government action that would reduce competition.

The judge also ruled that Ford's claim under the federal anti-racketeering law known as RICO was deficient.

"Knight Law will never be deterred by attempts to chill its advocacy, and it will now go back to doing what it does best: protecting the American people," said Neal Katyal, a Milbank partner and former acting U.S. solicitor general who is representing the Knight Law Group and its lawyers.

Douglass Lampe, a counsel at Ford, said in a statement that the company was disappointed its claims were dismissed but noted that Court "did not find that Ford was wrong on the facts or that the lemon law lawyers did not commit fraud."

Attorneys for the other defendants, including the Altman Law Group and Wirtz Law, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Court said she would give Ford another chance to revive its claims against the defendants, and gave the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker until Dec. 22 to re-file its lawsuit.

California's Lemon Law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, lets lawyers collect legal fees based on reasonably incurred time spent representing vehicle owners.

Ford accused the defendants of defrauding several carmakers by submitting false and inflated fee applications and demands, and alleged that the Knight Law Group's Steve Mikhov was the "ringleader of this criminal enterprise."

Mikhov, a named defendant in the case, and the Knight Law Group denied Ford's allegations in a Sept. 12 filing, calling the lawsuit an effort "to chill and punish its litigation adversaries — law firms, lawyers, and staff who represent consumers harmed by Ford's defective vehicles and fraudulent conduct."

Ford alleged that there were "numerous" alleged instances of lawyers billing more than 24 hours in a day. One partner at the Knight Law Group, Amy Morse, billed 57-1/2 hours of work on one day, the carmaker alleged.

Ford later claimed that the Knight Law Group had begun withdrawing certain demands for payment as a way to "to cover their tracks and conceal their fraudulent conduct."

The Knight Law Group said Ford's lawsuit suggested that Morse "did not know any such time entries were included in fee petitions." The firm also said that the carmaker's lawsuit was filled with "with wholly irrelevant (and inaccurate) personal attacks" on the defendants.

The legal battle attracted several high-profile firms. Ford was represented by a team of attorneys from Kasowitz, while the Knight Law Group tapped lawyers from Milbank; Williams & Connolly; and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

The case is Ford Motor Co v. Knight Law Group LLP, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 25-04550.

For Ford: Daniel Saunders, Matthew Manacek, Edward McNally and Daniel Fetterman of Kasowitz

For Knight Law Group et al: Neal Katyal, Matthew LaRoche of Milbank; Dane Butswinkas and Zachary Warren of Williams & Connolly; and Aaron Dyer, and Ronald Cheng of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

For Amy Morse: Kendall Waters and Pamela Johnston of Foley & Lardner

For The Altman Law Group and Bryan Altman: Gregor Hensrude of Klinedinst

For Wirtz Law et al: John Quinn and Matthew Craig of Hecker Fink