Ethics

From ALM.  The litigation between Mattel and MGA, which was already hard fought, took an even nastier turn as MGA accused Mattel and its outside lawyers of engaging in improper corporate espionage.  Bringing the opponents' lawyers into the fight has risks and upsides.  For example, California has a statute limiting a party's ability to claim a conspiracy between another party and its lawyers (CC 1714.10) and the state's anti-SLAPP statute sometimes protects lawyers whose conduct was integrally related to their legitimate lawyering.  Both defenses permit the accused lawyers to attack the pleadings immediately, demand that the pleader show its evidentiary cards before proceeding, and sometimes even to collect attorneys fees.  (I haven't analyzed if either defense is available to Quinn here.)  The answer and counter-claims, including thirty-one affirmative defenses and a RICO claim -- are in the pdf below.

Download Bratzquinnrico