Pennsylvania Law Firm Settles Le-Nature’s Malpractice Suit for $23.7M

One of Pittsburgh’s leading law firms has settled a malpractice claim stemming from the $684 million fraud scheme at Le-Nature’s, a defunct western Pennsylvania soft drink maker.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports K & L Gates didn’t acknowledge wrongdoing and isn’t commenting on the $23.7 million settlement.

A bankruptcy court trustee had accused K & L Gates of professional negligence for its role in an investigation that failed to uncover massive fraud at Le-Nature’s.

The company’s founder, Gregory Podlucky, is serving a 20-year federal prison sentencing for an accounting fraud scheme that cost investors $684 million and bankrupted the company. Other company executives and associates also received stiff sentences.

The bankruptcy trustee sued the law firm claiming one of its attorneys overlooked evidence that could have stopped Podlucky’s scheme.