One day after his former head litigator failed to show up for a case before the California Supreme Court, San Francisco lawyer Raul Aguilar expressed embarrassment Wednesday for himself and his firm.
"We're pros. We're not supposed to do this kind of stuff," the Aguilar & Sebastinelli partner said about Allen Kent's no-show during oral arguments in Sacramento. "There're no ifs, ands or buts."
Aguilar said Kent quit the five-lawyer firm without notice last Thursday, but in a brief voice mail message left for a reporter late Tuesday, Kent maintained that he had been "constructively terminated." Aguilar wouldn't talk about the details of the incident, but said he had fully expected Kent to fulfill his legal duties.
Kent, who was with the five-lawyer firm for about 11 years, was representing Aguilar in a case stemming from a malpractice suit the name partner brought against San Francisco divorce lawyer Esther Lerner.