July 7, 2008-- "Case Dismissed"
http://influentialist.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/legal-times-washington-group-sporidis-settle-lawsuit/#comment-124
Monday, July 7, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Case Dismissed
Washington Group, Sporidis Settle Lawsuit
Posted by Carrie Levine on Influence, The Business of Lobbying, the blog of Legal Times on June 25, 2008:
"...the judge in the case, Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said the case would be dismissed..."
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/influence/2008/06/washington-grou.html
Posted by Carrie Levine on Influence, The Business of Lobbying, the blog of Legal Times on June 25, 2008:
"...the judge in the case, Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said the case would be dismissed..."
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/influence/2008/06/washington-grou.html
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
"I Am Pleased With How This Matter Concluded."
Moving On
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, The Washington Post, "K Street Insider"
June 24, 2008
Harry A. Sporidis is a happy man. After a months-long battle with his former employer, Omnicom Group, Sporidis last week finally settled a lawsuit that had rocked him and the lobbying world.
Late last year, the Washington Group, a lobbying subsidiary of Omnicom, sued Sporidis, one of its senior vice presidents, for stealing away corporate clients when he jumped to another firm. The plaintiff sought more than half a million dollars in damages.
At the time, experts expressed astonishment that the dispute had gone to court at all. Lobbying is a very personal business. Clients tend to stick with their lobbyists like glue. When lobbyists move, one of their calling cards is almost always the "book of business" they can bring with them to the new job.
But Omnicom, an international advertising firm, tried to stop Sporidis from taking his clients with him. Apparently, it failed.
Omnicom declined to comment, and the settlement's terms are confidential. But Sporidis, in a statement, said: "I am pleased with how this matter concluded and that conclusion . . . only confirm[s] my position throughout this entire process. I am excited about moving on with my clients and having a long career in a profession that I truly enjoy."
Sporidis now works as a lobbyist at the law firm Powell Goldstein.
______
Link to this story in Mr. Birnbaum's column, "K Street Insider," in The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062301797_2.html?sub=AR&sid=ST2008062301854&pos=
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, The Washington Post, "K Street Insider"
June 24, 2008
Harry A. Sporidis is a happy man. After a months-long battle with his former employer, Omnicom Group, Sporidis last week finally settled a lawsuit that had rocked him and the lobbying world.
Late last year, the Washington Group, a lobbying subsidiary of Omnicom, sued Sporidis, one of its senior vice presidents, for stealing away corporate clients when he jumped to another firm. The plaintiff sought more than half a million dollars in damages.
At the time, experts expressed astonishment that the dispute had gone to court at all. Lobbying is a very personal business. Clients tend to stick with their lobbyists like glue. When lobbyists move, one of their calling cards is almost always the "book of business" they can bring with them to the new job.
But Omnicom, an international advertising firm, tried to stop Sporidis from taking his clients with him. Apparently, it failed.
Omnicom declined to comment, and the settlement's terms are confidential. But Sporidis, in a statement, said: "I am pleased with how this matter concluded and that conclusion . . . only confirm[s] my position throughout this entire process. I am excited about moving on with my clients and having a long career in a profession that I truly enjoy."
Sporidis now works as a lobbyist at the law firm Powell Goldstein.
______
Link to this story in Mr. Birnbaum's column, "K Street Insider," in The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062301797_2.html?sub=AR&sid=ST2008062301854&pos=
Monday, May 5, 2008
"Make It Ugly"
Sporidis had lunch with Eugene Patrone, the Washington Group's chief operating officer, say court documents. That day, Lorraine Thelian, a Ketchum executive in New York, e-mailed another Ketchum executive, noting, "Eugene took him to lunch today and was very clear that Ketchum was not going to let him walk with his clients, would make it ugly and ultimately endanger his chance of having a real job at the law firm."
Law.com, April 2008
Law.com, April 2008
"I Thought I Was Happy For Him"
Sporidis' departure from the lobbying firm was initially amicable. Susan Molinari, who oversees Washington Group and Ketchum Public Affairs, said in a deposition that when informed by Sporidis of his new job, she told him that "If he thought this was a better fit for him, I thought I was happy for him."
Speaking on background, a DC-based public affairs executive and lobbyist from a competing agency said the lawsuit was an unusual case because lobbyists typically don't sign non-compete agreements, particularly electronically after joining a firm.
-- PR Week, April 21, 2008
Speaking on background, a DC-based public affairs executive and lobbyist from a competing agency said the lawsuit was an unusual case because lobbyists typically don't sign non-compete agreements, particularly electronically after joining a firm.
-- PR Week, April 21, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
"This isn't how things usually get done around here..."
This isn't how things usually get done around here. Lobbyists frequently move from job to job, taking clients with them. Suing a former lobbyist over clients is extraordinary, and this suit -- filled with allegations, financial information and e-mails such as the one from an executive saying the company would make his departure "ugly" -- is a rare window into matters usually settled privately and quietly. In her deposition, Molinari describes the decision to file suit as a "controversial" one between the Washington Group and its corporate owners Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group. That's not surprising, given how unusual such a lawsuit is on K Street.
The lawsuit "is breaking norms, serious norms, in Washington," says James Thurber, an American University professor who studies lobbying. The lawsuit exposes a gulf in understanding between lobbying firms and the public relations companies that now own many of them, which may not understand how Washington works, he says.
-- Legal Times, April 11, 2008
The lawsuit "is breaking norms, serious norms, in Washington," says James Thurber, an American University professor who studies lobbying. The lawsuit exposes a gulf in understanding between lobbying firms and the public relations companies that now own many of them, which may not understand how Washington works, he says.
-- Legal Times, April 11, 2008
"Experts expressed astonishment..."
"Lobbyists switch jobs all the time and usually take their clients with them. But a lawsuit in D.C.'s federal district court is challenging that practice, in a way that could rock the capital.
Without fanfare late last year, the Washington Group, a lobbying subsidiary of the multinational advertising firm Omnicom Group, sued one of its senior vice presidents for filching corporate clients when he jumped to another firm. The plaintiff is seeking more than half a million dollars in damages. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton has refused three times to prevent the transfer of clients. But the case against Harry A. Sporidis, now lobbying for the law firm Powell Goldstein, continues to march toward trial. Experts expressed astonishment that the dispute had gone to court at all."
-- The Washington Post, January 15, 2008
Without fanfare late last year, the Washington Group, a lobbying subsidiary of the multinational advertising firm Omnicom Group, sued one of its senior vice presidents for filching corporate clients when he jumped to another firm. The plaintiff is seeking more than half a million dollars in damages. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton has refused three times to prevent the transfer of clients. But the case against Harry A. Sporidis, now lobbying for the law firm Powell Goldstein, continues to march toward trial. Experts expressed astonishment that the dispute had gone to court at all."
-- The Washington Post, January 15, 2008
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