The plaintiff in a suit against more than 160 parties, many connected to the Puerto Rico bankruptcy, has temporarily withdrawn it.
On July 13 the California Central District Court approved plaintiff Andrew Hennigan’s motion to dismiss the case.
“I absolutely do intend on re-filing my complaint,” Hennigan said in a text to The Bond Buyer.
“For the most part, I’m waiting for further evidence and testimony to come to light in the Alix-McKinsey trial in Westmoreland Coal and I didn’t want my case to be dismissed with prejudice for failure to prosecute my case during the wait,” Hennigan said. “Voluntarily dismissing it myself would mean dismissal without prejudice, meaning I can re-file the complaint in the future.”
The “Alix-McKinsey” trial is In re: Westmoreland Coal Co. et al., in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
According to the Law360 web site, Jay Alix, the retired founder of McKinsey competitor AlixPartners LLP, acting through the entity Mar-Bow Value Partners “has filed actions in multiple bankruptcy cases accusing McKinsey of failing to disclose business and financial connections to interested parties in the cases.”
In the In re: Westmoreland Coal case, McKinsey is seeking the judge to retroactively approve its work and order its payment for the work in the already completed in the Westmoreland bankruptcy. Alix and Mar-Bow is attempting to block the approval and payment.
Hennigan previously worked on the Puerto Rico bankruptcy as an attorney for Paul Hastings LLP, which represents the Unsecured Creditors Committee in the bankruptcy case.
On Feb. 18, he filed the suit against consultant to the Puerto Rico Oversight Board McKinsey & Co., the Paul Hastings firm, and more than 160 other parties under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
“Additional time will allow me to continue to search for legal representation," Hennigan said Tuesday. "This search should be aided by further details coming out in the media about McKinsey’s practices and corruption in Puerto Rico and generating interest in my case.”
While Hennigan is an attorney he is seeking additional legal help.
In his legal action, Hennigan sued a large number of the most prominent Puerto Rico bankruptcy law firms for allegedly engaging in illegal activities, advancing their own financial interests over those of their clients.
Among the more than 160 parties Hennigan sued are law firm to the Ad Hoc Group of COFINA Seniors and Lawful Constitutional Debt Coalition Quinn Emanuel, and law firm to OppenheimerFunds and Franklin Mutual Kramer Levin. He also sued Greenberg Traurig, Jones Day, Norton Rose Fulbright, Rothschild & Co., Ernst & Young, KPMG, Citigroup, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Blackrock, and board attorney Martin Bienenstock.
