A Race Against Time Over Frozen Funds
Fitch Even’s lawsuit, filed last month, accused LWS and Sutton of diverting or depleting escrowed funds set aside for the firm’s fees — allegedly using them to pay a different law firm to handle the ongoing Samsung litigation.
The firm had requested a temporary restraining order (TRO) to halt any such transfers. However, Judge Seeger warned that even if arbitration applies, the unavailability of emergency relief there is “not a reason to unwind” an arbitration clause.
“If you gave up your right to seek that relief in court,” he told the firm’s attorneys, “then that’s how it goes. You signed the agreement.”
Should the court deny LWS’s arbitration motion, Seeger added, both defendants will face a “short fuse” to respond to Fitch Even’s TRO request.
From Legal Strategy to Fee Standoff
According to the complaint, Fitch Even took over the Samsung case in September 2023, after attorney Mark Raskin joined the firm and pitched a detailed litigation budget to LWS. The agreement allegedly included representations that Validity Finance would fund the case, ensuring payment of legal fees.
The firm said it invested months of work — analyzing over 100 patent claims, drafting 2,000 pages of infringement contentions, and preparing an amended complaint. But by December, LWS founder Jeremy Pitcock began hinting at replacing the firm with counsel willing to work on full contingency.
Two months later, with nearly $1 million in unpaid invoices, Fitch Even claimed that Validity proposed settling for $150,000 and 2.5% of case proceeds — a deal the firm rejected as inadequate. The situation escalated when LWS demanded file transfers to new counsel without offering to pay outstanding attorney fees, raising fears that litigation funds were being drained.
