Morris Schneider Wittstadt, an Atlanta law firm embroiled in lawsuits over more than $20 million that went missing from its accounts, filed for chapter 11 protection on Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Morris Schneider’s troubles have been playing out publicly since last year, when money was found to be missing from accounts linked to the firm’s real-estate business. The firm claims that former majority owner Nathan Hardwick tapped the firm’s accounts for his “personal use (including payments remitted directly to casinos and on account of private jets for the personal use of Hardwick, his girlfriend and family),” the firm’s executive managing partner, Mark Wittstadt, said in bankruptcy court papers. Hardwick, who was ousted from the firm last year, denied the accusations in federal court papers filed in March. “Nat Hardwick has never engaged in any illegal, unethical or improper conduct in connection with his legal work,” said Edward Garland, lawyer for the law firm’s former leader.
