With prospects for getting paid uncertain, Dick DeGuerin filed a motion today to withdraw from representing Houston financier R. Allen Stanford in his criminal case, so lawyers from Patton Boggs can take on the work. DeGuerin, a partner in DeGuerin & Dickson in Houston, filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas to let him withdraw from the case because he’s “unwilling to go forward without the assurance of being paid for work in the future.” DeGuerin alleges in the motion that Stanford has “refused” to authorize him to “seek assurances of future legal fees and expenses.” DeGuerin wrote that he received a fax from Stanford this afternoon "asking that Patton Boggs substitute as counsel in place of Dick DeGuerin and associated counsel." DeGuerin wrote that today he also received a copy of a news release from Quorvis Communications that says Stanford announced that he has replaced DeGuerin & Dickson as counsel, and Robert Luskin, a partner in Patton Boggs in Washington, D.C., will lead the Patton Boggs team handling Stanford’s criminal defense. Luskin could not be reached for immediate comment. Stanford has been in custody since June 25, when he pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges related to an alleged $7 billion conspiracy to defraud.
-- Brenda Sapino Jeffreys
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