Law360 Article by James Boyle  (March 30, 2026, 4:25 PM EDT)

Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan has accused a former name partner in a Pennsylvania state court suit of misdirecting more than $1.3 million in referral and case fees through a secret agreement with another firm and misusing the plaintiffs firm’s resources for personal expenses, including an affair with a client.

Brian D. Kent allegedly conspired with co-defendant Laurence P. Banville to amend referral contracts and redirect legal fees that should have gone to his firm, according to a complaint filed Friday in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. The firm said it uncovered Kent’s alleged misconduct after his termination in April 2024 following disclosure of a disciplinary investigation into his affair with the client.

Kent is currently serving one year of a three-year suspension of his law license. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered in May 2025

that the other two years of suspension would be stayed while he served two years’ disciplinary probation and underwent mental health treatment, according to public records.

A former prosecutor for the Philadelphia district attorney’s office, Kent co-founded personal injury firm Laffey Bucci & Kent LLP in March 2009. The firm has since been renamed Laffey Bucci D’AndreaReich & Ryan LLP.

According to a disciplinary petition from the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, in 2019 Kent took on a client seeking to file a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology. He began communicating with the client through thousands of text messages, many of which were flirtatious and concerned personal matters, according to the petition.

In June 2019, Kent met with the client in a Los Angeles hotel room and engaged in sexual conduct, but did not have intercourse, the ODC’s petition said. The newly filed suit says Kent used firm resources to pay for the travel to Los Angeles and the hotel room, along with other personal expenses.

Kent stopped representing the client in 2021 and she sought new counsel. When the firm learned of the alleged affair and potential violations of the Professional Rules of Conduct, Kent was expelled from the partnership in April 2024. The firm shortly uncovered additional alleged misconduct while investigating his work, the complaint says.

In 2018, Kent generated a referral agreement with Banville, who operates several legal outlets, including Banville Law , the Justice Guardians and the Abuse Guardians. Under the agreement, Banville would provide online referral services, which would direct cases to Laffey Bucci. In exchange, he would receive a portion of recovered legal fees, according to the complaint.

The complaint says Kent secretly negotiated a new contract with Banville in October 2019, which divided the fees between the two and excluded the firm in certain situations when a case was referred to a third firm.

Kent and Banville are accused of diverting cases away from the firm in order to collect on their secret arrangement, with Banville receiving 60% of recovered fees and Kent receiving 40%, according to the complaint. The firm says in its complaint it discovered evidence Kent stole more than $1.3 million in fees through the alleged scheme with Banville.

According to the complaint, the firm continues to investigate Kent’s alleged misconduct while a partner, but he claims he is owed compensation for outstanding legal fees. The dispute has led trial attorneys who have resolved referred cases to withhold payment of legal fees until a resolution has been reached, the complaint says. Laffey Bucci seeks declaratory relief and damages against Kent and Banville on multiple counts, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, along with an audit of the defendants’ finances, according to the complaint. Attorneys representing both parties could not be reached for comment on Monday. The plaintiffs are represented by Joseph R. Podraza Jr. and William H. Trask of Lamb McErlane PC. Attorney information for the defendants is not currently available.

The case is Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan LLP v. Brian Dooley Kent, et al., case number 260304061, in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.—

Additional reporting by P.J. D’Annunzio. Editing by Robert Rudinger.

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