FOLLOW US

A storm of legal drama is brewing in Mercer County Superior Court, where Acumen Technology Solutions for Healthcare LLC is pressing a New Jersey state judge to make Troutman Pepper Locke LLP pay more than $3.5 million in attorney fees and litigation costs. The demand comes after Acumen’s managing partner, James Dale Rangone, successfully proved the firm’s malpractice in a case that spanned seven grueling years.

The long-fought case, which included an eight-day trial and a defense against Troutman Pepper’s third-party complaint targeting Rangone, has turned into a courtroom chess match over who should bear the cost of victory.

“It’s the epitome of trying to have your cake and eat it too,” declared Acumen’s attorney, Dominic J. Picca, arguing that Rangone had been wrongfully dragged into Troutman Pepper’s counterclaims “for the sake of paying Acumen’s bill.”

Troutman Pepper Pushes Back, Claims Fees Are Too High

Troutman Pepper Locke, formerly known as Pepper Hamilton LLP, countered that Acumen’s demand was excessive. Representing the firm himself, A. Christopher Young urged the court to slash the requested fee by at least one-third, insisting that costs associated with defending Rangone were not recoverable.

According to Young, under the 1996 New Jersey Supreme Court precedent Saffer v. Willoughby, only clients—not third parties—can recover such fees in malpractice claims.
“Rangone was not a plaintiff nor a former client,” Young argued. “He chose not to be a legal malpractice plaintiff. That was his decision.”

The firm also claimed the requested sum dwarfed the $758,000 judgment Acumen actually won in July and failed to justify the high hourly rates charged by its New York-based legal team compared to typical Mercer County rates.

Acumen’s Counter: Justice Shouldn’t Depend on Zip Code

Picca fired back, explaining that Acumen had sought local representation but three Philadelphia firms declined due to conflicts with Pepper Hamilton. “It is inherently unfair and unjust to impose a burden of taking a lesser degree of representation,” he said, arguing that the high fees were unavoidable given the circumstances.

From Arbitration to Victory: The Origins of the $3.5M Fight

Acumen’s saga with Troutman Pepper began in 2018, when the healthcare tech firm sued the law giant for malpractice over its representation between 2011 and 2018. During this time, the firm advised Acumen in negotiating the sale of its assets and a stock warrant tied to that deal.

But Acumen alleged that Troutman Pepper concealed critical information—specifically, a material discrepancy between the letter of intent and the final deal documents—and then led the company into costly and futile arbitration after the warrant was rejected.

The lawsuit claimed the firm billed nearly $1.5 million in legal fees despite the warrant’s maximum potential value being $898,000. When Acumen refused to pay an outstanding $750,000, Troutman Pepper hit back with counterclaims and a third-party complaint against Rangone personally.