BigLaw firm and ex-partner who sued for age bias agree on dismissal By Paralegal Mark Smith, LL.M., Certified Legal Documents Preparer November 26, 2024, 2:09 pm CST

A former Fox Rothschild equity partner who claimed that he was demoted to a position with lower pay and required to work under a series of one-year contracts has ended his age-bias lawsuit against the law firm. Former partner Michael J. Kline and the firm stipulated to dismissal of the suit without fees or costs against either party, Law360 reports. The stipulation does not say whether the suit settled. Kline, a former chair of the corporate department at Fox Rothschild, was 79 when he filed the suit in May in Mercer County, New Jersey, superior court. He alleged that, when he turned 73 in 2018, he was required to transition to the role of income partner and to accept a reduced annual salary of $200,000. He was later appointed as an assistant general counsel with lower pay of $150,000. When he complained about lower pay, the firm offered to pay him a $500,000 vested retirement benefit, at $100,000 per year for five years, to supplement his income, the suit said. Kline said the firm pressured him to sign a final contract that ended in March 2024. When he complained, he allegedly was told that it was time to “hang up [his] spurs.”