Cochran Firm claims deception in assault case attorney fees

A lawsuit filed by The Cochran Firm claims that another Los Angeles law firm is wrongfully withholding attorney fees won in a prior civil sexual assault lawsuit.

The complaint claims that former Cochran attorney Ibiere N. Seck of Los Angeles, who has started her own firm, misrepresented her prior relationship with a Doe plaintiff to obtain a greater share of the fees. Brian T. Dunn et al. v. Ibiere N. Seck et al., 24STCV04224 (L.A. Sup. Ct., filed Feb. 20, 2024).

"The attorneys' fees in the 'Doe Matter' have yet to be distributed and remain held in trust pursuant to Seck Law's claimed entitlement to said fees," reads the complaint filed by Brian T. Dunn of The Cochran Firm.

The case concerns the compensation structure used by The Cochran Firm for cases that come through its advertised telephone number versus cases where an attorney has a prior relationship with the prospective client.

In successful cases that came in through the phone number, lead attorneys earn 25% of the total fees due to the firm, according to the complaint.

However, "if a potential new case came to the firm because of a personal or familial relationship involving a friend or family member of an associate attorney, then that associate attorney's percentage commission would be substantially higher than 25% of the total fee yielded by The Cochran Firm," the complaint reads.

According to the complaint, Seck represented an underage Doe plaintiff in a 2019 sexual assault case in Riverside while working for Cochran.

A year after executing a retainer agreement with the Doe plaintiff, Seck left the firm, taking the client and the case with her, the lawsuit claims. Seck had claimed to have a personal relationship with the client's family that predated the case.

According to Dunn's complaint, however, that was a lie.

"The family members of plaintiff John Doe never had any form of a pre-existing personal relationship with Ibiere Seck, and, contrary to the express representations of Ms. Seck, the family of John Doe retained the services of The Cochran Firm by calling the phone number listed on the firm's advertising campaigns," the complaint said.

After the John Doe case settled in 2021 under confidential terms, Seck sued The Cochran Firm in 2022, alleging that it refused to sign off on a dispersal of the attorney fees as stipulated in a mediation agreement.

"As of the date of the filing of this complaint, no response has ever been received from The Cochran Firm, nor has The Cochran Firm taken any steps to further pursue or seek resolution of its lien claim," Seck's lawsuit claimed. Ibiere N. Seck, et al. v. Brian T. Dunn, et al., 22STCV35268 (L.A. Sup. Ct., filed Nov. 2, 2022).

The new complaint claims that Seck's alleged deception was discovered during an internal investigation prompted by her lawsuit.

"Pursuant to this investigation, Managing Partner Brian Dunn learned for the first time that, while still employed by The Cochran Firm as an associate attorney, Ms. Seck had deliberately lied to him about the circumstances surrounding the intake of the plaintiff family of John Doe," Dunn's complaint read.

The complaint lists seven causes of action, including fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and professional negligence.