NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – The law firm of Cozen O'Connor has filed suit against USAC Airways claiming the private executive aviation company owes the firm more than $200,000 in unpaid legal service fees.
According to the July 19 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York filing, Cozen O'Connor filed the complaint against the defendant USAC Airways 691 LLC over allegations of breach of contract, quantum meruit for services rendered in good faith and unjust enrichment.
The suit states USAC hired Cozen in September 2017 to handle a trademark infringement case in the Central District of California. A tentative settlement was reached in the case in August 2018 with the court giving 60 days to conclude the settlement, according to the court filing.
The plaintiff alleges USAC only responded to communication from Cozen a few days before the court deadline and asked for changes to the settlement document. USAC allegedly also informed the firm it was not going to pay the legal fees owed to Cozen. Cozen then dropped USAC as a client and the settlement agreement regarding the trademark infringement case was completed by other counsel, the suit states.
Upon USAC's eventual partial $74,482.37 payment to Cozen, the firm agreed to continue representation "in good faith," the suit states. USAC allegedly failed to pay the balance as well as current fees owed to the firm which amount to $255,324.20.
USAC failed to respond to the mandatory arbitration deadline for the fee dispute, according to the suit.
Cozen seeks the amount owed to the firm in legal fees in addition to fees and costs associated with its current complaint against USAC.
The plaintiff is represented by Tamar S. Wise of Cozen O'Conner in New York City.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York case number 1:19-cv-06765