Dec 5 (Reuters) - A Mississippi lawyer and former

federal judge has sued national plaintiffs law firm Hagens

Berman Sobol Shapiro, claiming it failed to pay him his share of

attorney fees from a lawsuit against drugmaker Wyeth.

Walter Nixon Jr, who served on the Southern District of

Mississippi federal trial court from 1968 until his removal for

alleged misconduct two decades later, filed the lawsuit last

week in federal court in Gulfport.

Nixon alleged that Hagens Berman and another firm hired him

in 2010 to help them pursue a lawsuit accusing Wyeth of fixing

prices for its antidepressant Effexor XR. Nixon was then a

director and shareholder at Biloxi-based drug reseller

Professional Drug, which became the named plaintiff in the Wyeth

case, court records show.

Wyeth, now a Pfizer subsidiary, denied the price-fixing

claims but agreed to settle the case for $39 million in April.

Nixon in his lawsuit said Seattle-based Hagens Berman never

paid him his agreed-upon share of a $13 million legal fee award

stemming from the settlement.

Nixon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

His attorney had no immediate comment.

Thomas Sobol, one of the lead Hagens Berman lawyers in the

Wyeth case, told Reuters that he was "entirely unaware of a

dispute regarding fees" and had not received a demand from

Nixon. He said Thursday that he contacted Nixon's lawyer after

learning of the lawsuit "to address the issue promptly" but had

not heard back.

Professional Drug, founded in 1958, bought drugs from

manufacturers and resold them at wholesale prices.

Nixon, a 1951 graduate of Tulane Law School, spent years

working as a lawyer in Biloxi, including as an attorney for

Professional Drug, court records show. He was appointed as judge

in 1968, but was convicted in 1986 on charges that he lied to a

grand jury. He was impeached over his conduct and removed from

the federal bench three years later.

Nixon denied making any false statements. His law license

was reinstated in 1993 by the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Sobol and Mississippi lawyer Don Barrett met with Nixon in

2010 to discuss Professional Drug serving as a plaintiff in the

Wyeth case, Nixon's lawsuit said.

Nixon also agreed to jointly share responsibility with

Hagens Berman and Barrett's firm for representing Professional

Drug in the Wyeth case, court records show. In return, the law

firms each agreed that Nixon would receive 15% of their legal

fee awards stemming from the case, according to Nixon's lawsuit.

Barrett, who worked with Sobol on the case, did not

immediately respond to a request for comment. Nixon said he was

already paid his share of Barrett's award.

Nixon's role included gathering documents and data, but the

agreement barred him from advising Professional Drug on issues

related to settling the case or the legal team's attorney fees,

according to a letter from Hagens Berman included in the

lawsuit.

Professional Drug voluntarily dismissed its claims against

Wyeth in 2020 without providing a reason.

Hagens Berman never paid Nixon his share of its fees after

Wyeth settled, the lawsuit said. Nixon said he was seeking at

least $1 million in damages for Hagens Berman's alleged

"intentional breach of its obligations."

-- In other legal fee news, attorneys who persuaded a Delaware

judge to void Tesla founder Elon Musk's $56 billion pay

package are poised to walk away from the case with a hefty

payday - just not the one they wanted.

The plaintiff's lawyers at Bernstein Litowitz Berger &

Grossmann, Andrews & Springer, and Friedman Oster & Tejtel are

entitled to $345 million in fees for their work on the case,

Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick ruled Monday.

McCormick, who previously called Musk's pay package

excessive in a January ruling that rescinded it, said Tesla's

board could not hit "reset" to restore it through a shareholder

vote.

The plaintiff's attorneys had initially requested a fee

award of more than 29 million Tesla shares for their work, which

would have amounted to a multi-billion dollar windfall based on

the company's share price.

Tesla's share price has surged since Nov. 5, when Republican

candidate Donald Trump, supported by Musk, won the U.S.

presidential election. As of Monday's market closing, the fee

request would have been worth more than $10 billion.

"In a case about excessive compensation, that was a bold

ask," McCormick wrote in her 103-page ruling. The $345 million

award is still the largest ever in Delaware.

Tesla said it would appeal McCormick's decision to the

Delaware Supreme Court.

(Legal Fee Tracker is a weekly feature exploring attorney

compensation awards and disputes in class actions, bankruptcies

and other matters. Please send tips or suggestions to

[email protected].)

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