A recent Law 360 story by Justin Wise, “2nd Circ. Says No 2nd Shot For Milberg in $12M Fee Dispute”, reports that the Second Circuit upheld a lower court's dismissal of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC predecessor Milberg LLP's pursuit of nearly $12 million in contingency fees from former clients, saying its petition failed to comply with a timing provision of federal arbitration law.  The decision came down in a long-running dispute between Milberg LLP, which has since merged with multiple firms, and clients it represented in Germany and Luxembourg in their suit for recovery on defaulted Argentine bonds.

The firm in 2019 sued in the Southern District of New York seeking to vacate an arbitration award that said it was entitled to only a fraction of a $11.9 million fee it claimed it earned for its work on the case.  However, the court dismissed the firm's effort over failing to adequately plead diversity of parties and for not serving proper notice of the petition within the three-month statute of limitations.  While a three-judge panel differed with the lower court on the subject of diversity, "nevertheless, we hold that Milberg failed to comply with the timing provisions of the Federal Arbitration Act."

An attorney for Milberg had previously argued in court that Hague Convention protocol made it impossible to serve notice to overseas adversaries within 90 days.  But the appeals court was not convinced, saying the firm did not "demonstrate diligence" when it came to the three-month deadline to warrant a "possible equitable extension."

"Milberg did not even notify opposing counsel of its petition to vacate the arbitral award until [the] three-month window closed, and only after opposing counsel stated it was not authorized to accept service did Milberg set the wheels in motion for service overseas," the panel wrote, citing the firm's after-hours attempt to serve notice on the day the statute of limitations expired.

Milberg had represented 10 Luxembourg and German retirement funds and two German individuals as they sought to enforce payment on defaulted Argentine bonds.  The clients stopped working with Milberg in 2016 and hired another firm before settling the dispute with Argentina for $162.3 million.  Court documents show that the settlement was similar to the terms Milberg had obtained before being discharged.

Milberg initiated arbitration seeking contingency fees in 2017, but a panel on Feb. 5, 2019, declined to award the firm what it sought. Milberg filed suit in court on May 6, 2019, and late that evening — the last day it could serve a notice for its motion — emailed counsel for their former clients asking whether it could accept service on their behalf.  The clients' counsel said it was not authorized to accept service, court documents show.