Citing an unpaid tab of $3.5 million, Jenner & Block has filed a motion to withdraw as counsel to former Jenkens & Gilchrist tax partner Paul Daugerdas. Daugerdas faces a second criminal trial this spring for tax evasion and conspiracy. Jenner partner Charles Sklarsky, who filed the Nov. 20 motion to withdraw, said Daugerdas has an estimated $25 million in assets, but most has been frozen by the government. “Mr. Daugerdas has more than ample money to pay the fees, but it’s restrained,” Sklarsky said.
A jury last year found Daugerdas guilty of 23 criminal counts of tax evasion and conspiracy for helping to create, market, and sell phony tax shelters for a decade starting in 1994. But in June, Southern District Judge William Pauley (See Profile) vacated the conviction due to juror misconduct (NYLJ, June 5), and granted him a new trial that is slated for April.
