A former partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf has sued a group of thelaw firm's ex-leaders for fraud, saying they ran the now-bankrupt firm as a Ponzi scheme to benefit themselves.

Henry Bunsow, an intellectual property lawyer in San Francisco,said in court papers that former Dewey Chairman Steven Davis andother one-time members of top management sought to misrepresent thefirm's financial performance and stability as they tried to recruitpartners at other firms.

Management was “running a Ponzi scheme in order to enrichthemselves and select members” of Dewey, Bunsow said in thecomplaint, filed Tuesday in California Superior Court in SanFrancisco.

The case is the first lawsuit to be made public by a formerpartner against Dewey or its former management in the wake of thefirm's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last month. Formerly one of thelargest U.S. law firms, the firm collapsed amid a high debt loadand a raft of partner defections this year.

Defendants in the lawsuit include Davis; Jeffrey Kessler, theformer head of litigation; Joel Sanders, the former chief financialofficer; Stephen DiCarmine, its former executive director; andJames Woods, a o ne-time executive committee member.

Davis, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment, as did NedBassen, a lawyer for DiCarmine.

Kessler, now a partner at Winston & Strawn, said in an emailthat the allegations about him were “outrageous, untrue and withoutthe slightest bit of merit.”

“It is sad that Mr. Bunsow, who received more of hiscompensation for 2011 than I did, would lash out with such falseallegations against me,” Kessler wrote.

The other defendants or their representative did not respond torequests for comment.

Ronald Souza, a lawyer for Bunsow, also did not respond to arequest for comment. Bunsow is now with law firm Bunsow De MorySmith Allison in San Francisco.

The lawsuit was first reported by The American Lawyer.

Bunsow joined Dewey in January 2011 from Howrey, a law firm thatfiled for bankruptcy later that year. In his complaint, he saidDewey's management lured him to join the firm with a promise of $5million a year in guaranteed compensation.

But he said Davis and others “knew they would be unable to keepthat promised guarantee in view of the huge debt of guaranteedincome then owed to prior partners.”

Bunsow said that in conversations before joining Dewey, Dewey'smanagement assured him about the firm's financial condition, withDavis stating he expected its profits per partner to hit $2 millionfor 2011. But he said the defendants misrepresented Dewey'sfinancial picture.

Bunsow said Dewey's management conspired to deprive partners oftheir capital investments in the firm and instead selectivelydistributed those investments to themselves and others. He said hesuf fered $7.55 million in damages as a result of losing capital heinvested in the firm and not being paid owed compensation and otherbenefits.

Davis has been the focus of an investigation by ManhattanDistrict Attorney Cyrus Vance into his oversight of Dewey. He hasdenied wrongdoing. A Dewey bankruptcy lawyer, Albert Togut,said at a May 29 hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan thatthe firm was “fully cooperating” with the New York probe.

Several Dewey partners have retained lawyers in anticipation ofbeing sued by the firm's bankruptcy estate and to consider bringingtheir own claims against Dewey and its principals.

On Wednesday, the firm reached a deal with lenders on a budgetto fund the bankruptcy through July. Dewey lawyer Togut said at abankruptcy hearing that the primary task now for the parties was toseek a settlement under which hundreds of former partners would payDewey varying amounts for creditor paybacks.

Bunsow's case is Bunsow v. Davis, Superior Court of the State ofCalifornia, County of San Francisco, No CHC-12-521540.

The bankruptcy case is In re Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, U.S.Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No 12-12321.