CINCINNATI — A federal judge has sided with adult entertainment attorney Paul Cambria Jr. and several other Lipsitz Green attorneys who were hit with a malpractice claim by Jimmy Flynt who claimed that they misrepresented him in a number of business deals.
The legal scuffle, however, is not over. Late Wednesday, Jimmy Flynt told XBIZ he was going to appeal the $20 million suit to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman granted Cambria and the other defendants summary judgment after he ruled that Jimmy Flynt failed to prove an attorney-client relationship with legal counsel and brother Larry Flynt, who controls LFP Inc.
Jimmy Flynt in the case argued that Cambria represented him in various criminal prosecutions between 1976 and 2004 and thus was his attorney moving forward. But Bertelsman dismissed that contention.
"The attorney-client relationship can automatically terminate when the attorney completes the discrete task for which he was retained," Bertelsman wrote. "Thus, Cambria's representation of Jimmy in certain criminal matters does not mean Cambria also represented Jimmy for all of his legal needs into the future."
Further, Bertelsman wrote, there were no invoices, oral retainer agreements or engagement letters between Lipsitz Green to Jimmy Flynt or his adult retail operation during the dates in question.
In addition, Bertelsman said the facts of the case did not facilitate the possibility that an attorney-client relationship can be "implied" based on the submission of confidential information by the client.
"Paul Cambria discussed many confidential issues with Jimmy," Bertelsman wrote. "However, they all related to Jimmy's position as an employee with Larry Flynt Publications and not to Jimmy personally or his role with [his retail operation, Hustler Cincinnati]. Jimmy testified that his position with Hustler Hollywood required him to interact with company counsel, which would be Cambria and the [Lipsitz Green] firm."
Cambria did not respond for comment by XBIZ post time.
