Roche Cyrulnik Freedman LLP has filed a federal lawsuit against founding name partner Jason Cyrulnik, alleging he was unanimously voted out of the firm for "abusive, destructive, erratic, and obstructive behavior," but has refused to leave.

The 25-page lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court on Saturday asks a judge to rule that Cyrulnik was properly voted out of the partnership. The firm accused Cyrulnik of refusing to leave unless he receives "excessive payments."

"Cyrulnik's wrongdoing and subsequent shakedown have made today's legal action necessary," the firm wrote in its lawsuit. "The firm refuses to be bullied by a former colleague, whose erratic conduct poses a risk to associates, staff, and partners, and is not in keeping with the firm's values-driven culture."

The firm voted Cyrulnik out on Feb. 12. Although he is no longer on the website, Cyrulnik, through his attorney Marc Kasowitz of Kasowitz Benson Torres, told his colleagues he has no intention of leaving, according to the lawsuit.

The firm appears to have shortened its name to Roche Freedman LLP on Monday.

Despite being voted out, Cyrulnik allegedly keeps using the firm's email account and keeps trying to take on new business. This is putting the firm in a hard spot, the complaint said: The new work could conflict with the firm's current clients, but Kasowitz has threatened to litigate to "hold each of you accountable for any harm to (Cyrulnik) or the firm's clients resulting from your egregious actions."

On Feb. 26, one day before the firm filed the lawsuit, Kasowitz threatened to sue the firm on Cyrulnik's behalf if his client didn't receive "immediate unfettered access" to its bank account and the ability to bring in new work without question.

Roche Cyrulnik Freedman was founded in 2019 by a group of Boies Schiller Flexner litigators, with Cyrulnik signing a memorandum of understanding with the other founding partners - Kyle Roche, Velvel Freedman, Amos Friedland, Nathan Holcomb and Edward Normand.

But since the founding, Cyrulnik has allegedly hoarded power, blocking the firm from completing a formal partnership agreement and making changes to its compensation formula. When he didn't get his way, Cyrulnik would scream at people, the lawsuit alleged.

"Cyrulnik had turned what was supposed to be a collegial, respectful, collaborative, and diverse law firm into a war zone in which Cyrulnik fought to maximize his bottom line at the expense of associates, partners, diversity initiatives, and the firm itself," the lawsuit alleged.

He would also gaslight his colleagues, the firm alleged. After allegedly screaming at two of his partners - Holcomb and Katherine Eskovitz - who were trying to get associates to work on a time-sensitive court matter, Cyrulnik said he was making an "informal amicable effort" to resolve the issue and was instead being blamed and attacked.

Despite claiming to have sought reconciliation, Cyrulnik allegedly attempted to alter Holcomb and Eskovitz's compensation "and equity allocations under various pretextual grounds." And then as the court deadline approached, Cyrulnik ordered the associate to work on his cases, the lawsuit alleged.

He was also late in billing his clients, at one point refusing to send out invoices worth about $4 million, and ordered associates to focus on billable hours work, not contingency fee work, the lawsuit alleged. Associates began threatening to quit altogether if they were assigned to Cyrulnik, the firm claims.

Roche Cyrulnik Freedman is represented by one of its partners, Eric Rosen, and Sean Hecker, a partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink. Hecker declined to comment beyond the complaint.

Cyrulnik and Kasowitz did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.

The case is Roche Cyrulnik Freedman v. Jason Cyrulnik, U.S. District for the Southern District of New York, No. 21-cv-01746.

Update: This story has been updated to add that Roche Cyrulnik Freedman has shortened its name to Roche Freedman.