Law.Com reports that:

"A former tech client of Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner has filed a malpractice complaint against the firm and one of its partners and contends the firm concealed that it was simultaneously working for a key competitor.

Delaware-based IVI Smart Technologies Inc. and two subsidiaries claim that Thelen, led by San Jose, Calif., partner David Ritchie, "actively assisted" the competitor in the repeated theft of intellectual property resulting in an alleged drop in the companies’ market capitalization from $200 million to $20 million, according to the complaint.

"This is a case about the deceit, divided loyalties, and gross violations of professional standards and fiduciary duties by Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner," the three companies claim in the suit, filed June 12 in New York’s Southern District federal court.

A call to Thelen’s attorneys in the case was referred to a firm spokesman who said, "We generally do not comment on ongoing litigation, but we believe the claims made in the lawsuit are without merit and we will vigorously defend against the allegation." The firm has not yet responded to the suit.

IVI and its subsidiaries, e-Smart Technologies Inc. and Biosensor LLC — all of which develop fingerprint verification technologies — allege in the complaint that Thelen helped siphon their IP to competitor Michael Gardiner and his associates and related companies.

The complaint says Thelen represented IVI beginning in 2004. Patricia Douglas, a lawyer representing Gardiner in a separate action filed by e-Smart, said Thursday that she and the other two attorneys representing him had cited the concurrent representation in asking Thelen to withdraw from representing e-Smart, which Thelen did on Jan. 30, 2007.

E-Smart hired Thelen, according to the complaint, to protect its IP in negotiating a manufacturing agreement with Gardiner and his company, A-Card.