The law firm of Warren & Griffin said a Savannah, Ga., law firm unethically stole Woodmore bus wreck case from the local firm.
In a lawsuit filed in Chancery Court, Warren & Griffin is asking 25 percent of any judgment that is won for the former client, treble damages, and punitive damages at least three times the amount of the compensatory damage award.
It names The Eichholz Law Firm and attorney Fatima A. Zeidan.
The suit, filed by attorney Stephen Duggins, says attorney Mark Warren received a call from the mother of a child injured in the wreck that claimed the lives of six children on Nov. 21, 2016.
It says attorney Warren met with the mother at Erlanger Hospital four days after the wreck at her request. It says they discussed details of the case and he signed her up as a client based on her paying legal expenses and the law firm getting 25 percent of the judgment.
Attorney Warren said his firm began preparing for the case, then learned that Ms. Zeidan had come to Chattanooga and contacted families of the victims. He said the firm wanted 40 percent of the settlement, but agreed to pay the mother's living expenses.
The suit claims that the mother would have received millions of dollars less in the arrangement with the Eichholz firm than with Warren & Griffin.
It says Ms. Zeidan is not licensed to practice in Tennessee, and the Eichholz firm quickly handed the case off to another law firm under an agreement to share the settlement. The other firm then filed suit last Dec. 6.