Nashville at law: Feuding trial lawyers end their spat

Bart Durham and Bob Whitaker reach mediated accord [From our print edition featured in Monday's City Paper]

Email | Print By E. Thomas Wood

Well-known plaintiff's attorney Bart Durham and his former top staff attorney, Robert L. Whitaker, have announced a burying of the hatchet after trading allegations and lawsuits against each other in August and September.

The lawyers have reached a "complete resolution and settlement of all matters pending between them related to their respective lawsuits against each other," according to a joint statement they issued last week.

Durham sued soon after Whitaker left to set up his own shop in August, claiming that efforts by Whitaker to obtain part of a recent settlement amounted to "attempted extortion and/or embezzlement." Then Durham filed a motion to drop that lawsuit, saying the parties had "agreed on the differences noted in the complaint."

Later, as Durham sought to withdraw that motion, Whitaker filed his own lawsuit with claims of late-night telephone harassment and interference with client relationships.

It's all good now. The announcement says they have agreed to split the attorneys' fees from a lawsuit against Wal-Mart Transportation LLC in which they were both involved. A dispute over that case, in which two car-accident victims won a $1.2 million judgment, preceded the rest of the two lawyers' claims against each other.

"As a testament to Bob's and Bart's long-standing professional and personal relationship, they still consider each other good friends," the statement said. It thanked local attorney George B. McGugin for serving as mediator between the parties.