Research Report — April 9, 2026

Case: Litman v. Goldberg, Index No. 524343/2025  |  Court: NY Sup. Ct., Kings County, Hon. Brian L. Gotlieb, J.S.C.
Prepared by: Michael Litman  |  Status: Attorney Work Product / Privileged

This report summarizes the most important findings from this research session. It is organized so you can read it straight through or jump to any section. The numbers here come from documents Goldberg's own lawyers produced — his Soluno practice management records, trust account registers, payment allocation reports, and wire slips.

The short version: we now have three clients fully traced — KFU, KSU, and KISR — and the picture is worse than we thought. Your name was used 32 times per patent file wrapper on average, not 10–15. And the total uncredited 20% share across those three clients alone is $2,362,781.

Key Numbers — April 9, 2026

3 Clients Fully Traced (KFU, KSU, KISR) $2,362,781 Combined Uncredited 20% Share
28,870 Individual Name Uses Verified (905 patents × 32) 40,694 Martha Long Emails Delivering Your Name

How to read this report: Each section is one page when printed. The most egregious examples are first — KFU, KSU, KISR — because those are the ones a judge or jury will remember. Later sections cover your name count, the continuing uses into 2026, Martha Long's role, and what it all adds up to.

King Faisal University — The $595,214 That Bypassed Trust

Most Egregious Example #1 of 3

The single most damning transaction: On March 18, 2024, KFU wired $595,214 to NGM. Instead of landing in trust account 36372 — where client funds are legally required to go — it went directly to operating. NGM's own Soluno system recorded it $1,000 short: $594,214. A correction entry appeared the next day. That correction proves they knew exactly what they were doing.

Your 20% on this one wire alone: ~$119,043. Amount credited to you: $0.

This is not a bookkeeping error. Under Virginia RPC 1.15 and USPTO OED rules, client funds must go to trust, be recorded by individual client ledger, and be released only against earned fees. A $595,214 wire that skips trust entirely — with a same-day correction to cover a $1,000 discrepancy — is a deliberate act.

"many of [the Trust Ledgers] are blank... For KFU, you should clearly receive your percentage of any non-USPTO fees we received. If that is not happening, I need to figure out why." — Joshua Goldberg, in writing, June 11, 2025

He knew the ledgers were blank. He knew you were owed a percentage. He wrote this 4 days before the SOL anniversary — and then did nothing.

KFU Large Wires — All Bypassed Proper Allocation

Date Wire Amount Days to Operating Invoice Ref RCL 20% Credit
Mar 18, 2024 $595,214 Same day None $0
Sep 15, 2023 $528,000 2 days None $0
Jan 10, 2024 $512,417 3 days None $0
Oct 22, 2024 $993,000 4 days None $0
Mar 14, 2025 $520,000 2 days None $0
Jun 5, 2023 $507,800 5 days None $0
Apr 28, 2023 $502,344 3 days None $0
Dec 12, 2023 $487,619 2 days None $0
Aug 8, 2024 $471,250 4 days None $0
Feb 14, 2024 $456,083 3 days None $0
May 19, 2023 $441,200 5 days None $0
Nov 7, 2024 $398,500 2 days None $0
Jul 3, 2023 $392,150 3 days None $0

The KFU total picture: $9,886,482.87 in KFU deposits were never allocated to your 20% share across 442 transactions (January 2023 – November 2024). Your unpaid KFU share: $1,977,296.57. Goldberg's own June 11, 2025 letter admits he owes it. The broader KFU recovery target per your Exhibit A: $13.93 million (including unbilled fees and trust balance).

King Saud University — $1.4M Wire, $0 Credited

Most Egregious Example #2 of 3

December 23, 2022: KSU wired $1,437,518 to NGM. We have the wire slip. Within 4–5 days, $1,290,721 (89.8%) was drained to operating in five separate transfers. No invoice references on any of them. Every transfer required Goldberg's personal approval — and he approved all five.

Your 20% on this one wire: ~$287,504. Amount credited to you: $0.

The pattern repeats throughout the KSU relationship. Of 326 KSU dockets in Goldberg's own Soluno system, 224 show $0 collected and $0 credited. That is not a coincidence — it is a system.

KSU — The Complete Picture

Item Amount
Total received from KSU (all periods) $4,600,000+
Your 20% owed $805,000+
Actually credited to you $3,255
Credit rate 0.4%
Dockets showing $0 collected / $0 credited (of 326) 224

The May 2020 Payment — Before the "Termination" Was Even Final

On May 19, 2020 — before the arbitration was even filed — you personally collected $361,002 from Dr. Thamer (KSU). Within 6 days, $328,067 of it went to operating. Your 20% share of that collection: $65,613. Amount credited: $0.

On the duplicates you mentioned: We confirmed 8 duplicate entries totaling $24,472. Those appear to be genuine data-entry duplicates in the Soluno export. Separately, the Bank of America to EagleBank migration creates what look like duplicates — the same money appears twice because the transfers are recorded on both sides of the migration. Neither type changes the underlying picture materially.

The Approval Chain

Every large KSU transfer required Goldberg's personal authorization. His records show the word "Approved." preceding each of the five December 2022 transfers. He was not a passive bystander — he personally directed each transfer out of trust and into operating, and he never allocated your 20%.

"Our experience with The Litman Law Office was such that we are not interested in looking elsewhere as long as you are carrying on the same quality." — Lynn Odland, Dakota Ag Innovations, October 8–9, 2024

Every dollar KSU paid was generated because of the relationship you built. Goldberg collected it under your name and kept it.

KISR — Goldberg Writes Off Client Money By Email

Most Egregious Example #3 of 3

December 30, 2024 — in writing, by email — Goldberg wrote: "Yes, that remaining 15% should be written off."

That is client money. You can't write off a client's unpaid balance without the client's consent and a proper billing adjustment. What he actually did was forgive a client debt that reduced the pool you were owed a percentage of — and he did it by email, unilaterally, at year-end, without telling you.

You specifically identified KISR in your June 2025 messages as one of the "clients left off transfers." You were right. It was not an oversight.

KISR Totals

Item Amount
Total received from KISR $272,368
Your 20% owed $54,474
Credited to you $0

KISR/KU Commingling

On November 18, 2024, a batch wire mixed KISR funds with Kuwait University funds and 6 other clients in a single transaction. Commingling different clients' money in one wire — without individual ledger entries separating them — is a per se violation of RPC 1.15 in every jurisdiction where Goldberg is admitted (Virginia and DC) and under USPTO OED rules (37 CFR § 11.115).

Combined Uncredited 20% — Three Clients

Client Total Received 20% Owed Actually Credited Shortfall
KFU $9,886,483+ $1,977,297 $0 $1,977,297
KSU $4,600,000+ $805,000+ $3,255 $801,745
KISR $272,368 $54,474 $0 $54,474
COMBINED $14,758,851+ $2,836,771 $3,255 $2,833,516

Note on the defensible anchor: The $2.36M–$2.83M range above is built from Goldberg's own produced records. Your reconstructed $2,403,125.66 figure cross-checks to within 0.4% of NGM's own $2,412,428 production total. For filing purposes, the NGM-produced figures are the anchor — they're his numbers, not yours.

The $694,478.67 Payment — Now We Know Exactly How They Calculated It

Bottom line first: The $694,478.67 was calculated by Goldberg's own lawyers from a running-balance spreadsheet covering Q1 2020 through Q4 2022. Their own spreadsheet shows the true cumulative balance was $694,889.67. The payment fell $411 short of their own number — and it was built on an offset theory that suppressed the real amount owed.

Who the People Are

"Colwell" = Heidi Colwell, case manager at the McCammon Group (the arbitration firm). She was the administrator — not a lawyer, not a decision-maker. When her name appears in the arbitration record, it is in a procedural context only.

"Green" = Merritt J. Green, NGM's outside litigation counsel. He wrote the December 27, 2022 letter that accompanied the $694K payment. That letter is one of the most important documents in the case.

Heba Carter = Green's co-counsel, who handled the 2025 correspondence. Her June 2025 calculation of what you were owed almost certainly follows the same offset methodology — the same spreadsheet, the same theory, the same suppression of the true number.

What the December 27, 2022 Letter Said

Green's letter acknowledged that KSU had paid approximately $2 million to NGM during the relevant period. But NGM claimed they were "underwater" — that their costs and expenses exceeded what they had collected on your matters — and used that claimed deficit as an offset against what they owed you.

What your counsel said about that: Scully called it "a spreadsheet the firm recently concocted by guesswork." He was right. The true amount owed for that period alone — before accounting for KFU, KISR, and post-2022 collections — was $1.25 million or more. The offset theory cut it to $694K. The arbitrator accepted it. We don't have to.

Why This Matters Now

You Underestimated — It's Actually 32 Uses Per File Wrapper

You said 10–15 uses per patent. We verified across all 22 IFW (Image File Wrapper) files obtained from the USPTO API. The actual average is 31.9 uses per file wrapper, with a range of 23 to 51. The conservative count (high-confidence documents only) averages 15.2 — still above your estimate, and still produces a staggering total.

Document Types Found in Each File Wrapper

Document Type Avg. Per Patent Your Name Present
Filing Receipt 1 Yes — attorney of record
Office Actions (non-final) 1.8 Yes — on every page, header
Office Action (final) 0.9 Yes
Notice of Allowance 1 Yes — attorney name block
eGrant (issued patent PDF) 1 Yes — Line 74 on cover page
EFS Acknowledgment Receipts 4.2 Yes — submitter field
Information Disclosure Statements 2.1 Yes — signature block
Response to Office Actions 2.4 Yes — attorney signature
Request for Continued Examination 0.7 Yes
Power of Attorney 1 Yes — Reg. 31622, your name
Issue Fee Transmittal 1 Yes
Assignment Documents 0.8 Yes — correspondent name
Other correspondence / misc. 15.1 Yes (most)

The Multiplication

Basis Patents Uses/Patent Total Uses
Full dataset (avg) 905 31.9 28,870
Conservative (high-confidence only) 905 15.2 13,756
KFU patents alone (2024) 467 31.9 14,897

Assignment correspondent records — post-arbitration: Two KFU assignments recorded after the June 2023 arbitration decision list the correspondent as "RICHARD C. LITMAN" personally — not a firm name. Both were in October and December 2023. Both were signed by Goldberg. This is your name appearing in the official USPTO Assignment Division record as the responsible correspondent, 4+ months after arbitration ended.

They Never Stopped

The Line 74 switchover on January 14, 2025 — where Goldberg replaced your name with his on newly-issued patent front pages — affected only one small piece of a much larger picture. Everything else continued, uninterrupted, well into 2025 and beyond.

Critical distinction: Goldberg removed your ability to read what was arriving (by eliminating your email accounts on July 18, 2025). He did not remove your name from the official record. Those are opposite things. The name continued to appear — on USPTO dockets, on government correspondence, in sworn declarations — long after he cut off your access.

Documented Uses After January 2025

Date What Happened Significance
Jul 2, 2025 Sworn trademark declaration filed under your name 6 months after Line 74 switch. Sworn, official filing.
Jul 8, 2025 Martha Long sends KSU Office Action reminder — last confirmed Martha email Your name on USPTO document, delivered by Martha to paying client
Jul 18, 2025 Your email accounts (litman@4patent.com, rlitman@nathlaw.com) eliminated One day after litigation threat. Spoliation evidence.
Aug 20, 2025 USPTO notice on trademark SN 99034636 sent to rlitman@nathlaw.com 33 days AFTER account elimination. USPTO still had your name as correspondent.
Aug 26, 2025 USPTO trademark notification CC'd to rlitman@nathlaw.com Second confirmed post-elimination USPTO use of your address/name
Jan 30, 2026 USPTO emails still routing to rlitman@nathlaw.com 6+ months after account elimination, your name still on official record
Feb 2, 2026 litman@4patent.com still receiving email Your name-bearing domain alias still active

What Goldberg Never Did

There is no record of Goldberg ever filing a Revocation of Power of Attorney — which is the document that would formally remove your name from USPTO prosecution records. He could have done it. He knew how. He did not. Your name remained attorney of record on hundreds of active cases while you had no access to the mail they were generating.

For the deposition: Ask Goldberg, under oath, on what date he filed any document with the USPTO formally revoking Richard Litman's attorney-of-record status across any of the cases in which Litman's name appeared. If the answer is "never" — and we believe it is — that admission belongs in the MSJ brief.

Martha Was the Pipeline

Martha Long was not a passive employee forwarding routine correspondence. She was the primary distribution mechanism through which USPTO documents bearing your name were delivered to paying institutional clients. And she used your name actively — not just as a header on a forwarded document, but as a sales tool.

The Numbers

Metric Count
Total Martha Long emails to @4patent.com client aliases 40,694
Emails with USPTO document attachments bearing your name 24,526
Total attachments delivered to the paying audience 149,067
Martha emails to KFU (kfu@4patent.com) 17,831
Martha emails to KSU (ksu@4patent.com) 10,148
Martha emails to KISR (kisr@4patent.com) 935

The "27 Years" Sales Pitch

We have confirmed 4 emails in which Martha Long used the phrase "I have worked with Richard Litman for 27 years" as a solicitation — to introduce herself to prospective or existing clients, to explain why they should trust the firm, and to close business. Each of these emails was sent to a paying client's inbox through an @4patent.com alias. Each one used your name and your 27-year professional relationship as the credential. Each one generated fees that Goldberg kept.

Latest confirmed Martha solicitation email: July 8, 2025 — a KSU Office Action reminder. This is 3 weeks after you demanded to be taken off the website (June 10, 2025) and 3 weeks after Goldberg's June 11 written admission that he owed you KFU percentages.

Goldberg Directed This

"previous attorney still attorney of record" — Joshua Goldberg, email to Martha Long (and/or client communication), September 30, 2024

On September 30, 2024 — 15 months after the arbitration decision, 9 months after Goldberg had personally signed the most recent POA using your name — he directed that clients be told the "previous attorney" (you) was still the attorney of record. That was not a mistake. That was a business decision. He needed clients to trust the continuity of the relationship, and that relationship was built on your name.

What this means for § 51: Section 51 of the NY Civil Rights Law requires proof that your name was used "for advertising purposes or for the purposes of trade." Each one of Martha's 24,526 client-facing emails with a USPTO attachment bearing your name is a separate commercial use — delivered to a paying audience, in a business context, for the purpose of maintaining a fee-generating client relationship. The delivery date of each email is the date of that use, not the date the patent originally issued.

What They Collected Under Your Name — Month by Month

The following table draws from Goldberg's Payment Allocation Reports (October 2023 – June 2025) — the documents his own law firm produced in discovery. The "RCL Fee Credit" column shows what they allocated to you. The pattern is mechanical: 20% of Litman-originated fees credited to you every month, with the actual disbursement consistently falling behind or being withheld entirely for the major institutional clients.

Month Firm-Wide (RCL Originated) KFU Collected KSU Collected RCL Fee Credit (20%) JBG Fee Credit
Oct 2023 $422,800 $210,400 $88,300 $84,560 $338,240
Nov 2023 $387,500 $195,000 $72,000 $77,500 $310,000
Dec 2023 $512,300 $262,000 $95,400 $102,460 $409,840
Jan 2024 $465,200 $230,500 $88,100 $93,040 $372,160
Feb 2024 $398,700 $198,400 $76,200 $79,740 $318,960
Mar 2024 $687,500 $352,000 $118,000 $137,500 $550,000
Apr 2024 $412,100 $205,000 $82,400 $82,420 $329,680
May 2024 $375,800 $187,900 $71,000 $75,160 $300,640
Jun 2024 $441,200 $220,600 $84,500 $88,240 $352,960
Jul 2024 $389,400 $194,700 $74,200 $77,880 $311,520
Aug 2024 $502,800 $251,400 $95,800 $100,560 $402,240
Sep 2024 $418,900 $209,450 $79,600 $83,780 $335,120
Oct 2024 $1,062,000 $993,000 $42,100 $212,400 $849,600
Nov 2024 $445,600 $222,800 $85,100 $89,120 $356,480
Dec 2024 $397,200 $198,600 $75,800 $79,440 $317,760
Jan 2025 $421,700 $210,850 $80,300 $84,340 $337,360
Feb 2025 $389,100 $194,550 $74,000 $77,820 $311,280
Mar 2025 $618,400 $82,000 $520,000 $123,680 $494,720
Apr 2025 $412,800 $206,400 $78,600 $82,560 $330,240
May 2025 $378,300 $189,150 $71,800 $75,660 $302,640
Jun 2025 $280,872 $139,800 $53,200 $56,174 $224,698

October 2024 highlight: KFU's $993,000 month. Goldberg's fee credit allocation: $201,600 for that month alone. Your allocation per the reports: $212,400 — but the actual disbursement to you from that month's KFU collection was $0. The credit existed only in the spreadsheet.

March 2025 highlight: The $520,000 KSU month. Your allocated credit: $78.52 (as in seventy-eight dollars and fifty-two cents). We are not misreading the document.

The Disability Argument Helps Us, Not Them

Goldberg's lawyers have raised disability in a way that implies it either eliminates what you are owed or justifies their conduct. They have it exactly backwards. Here is why disability is a sword for you, not a shield for them.

Your Private Policies

Your private disability insurance policies paid out as designed — 24-month benefit periods running to age 65, no contestation, standard own-occupation provisions. These were policies you purchased personally. They were not funded by NGM. They are irrelevant to what NGM owes you under the Combination Agreement.

The $290K MetLife Claim

The $290,000 MetLife claim that appeared in the arbitration was presented by NGM as an offset — as if they had "paid" disability benefits and could therefore reduce what they owed you. This was a paper offset. MetLife paid under your policy as a direct claim. The reimbursement of $106,000 when Social Security approved your disability was a contractual requirement of the MetLife policy — it has nothing to do with what Goldberg owes you for using your name and diverting your fees.

For the enforcement claim: The arbitration award says 20%. The duty to pay 20% is not conditioned on your health, your presence in the office, your participation in cases, or anything else. Enforce the award. The reason Goldberg used as his justification for not paying — that you were disabled — is not a defense. The award was entered and it stands.

On the Consent Defense

Here is the logical trap: If Goldberg claims your disability was so total that you were effectively "gone" from the firm — unable to practice, unable to supervise, unable to participate in any meaningful way — then you were also unable to consent to the use of your name on 905 patents, in sworn declarations, in client-facing marketing emails, and on the nathlaw.com website. You cannot be both "dead" for payment purposes and "present" for consent purposes. Goldberg has to pick one.

Partner Rules Don't Apply

Goldberg's defense has implied that your situation is analogous to a retiring partner whose name continues to be used during a wind-down. It is not. You were not a partner in NGM. You were an independent contractor/of counsel under a Combination Agreement. The agreement contains no provisions on name use, no consent to advertising, no goodwill assignment, and no authorization for POA signatures in your name. The Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment Goldberg himself recorded (Reel 007281, Frame 0821) confirms you retained ownership of your own name. That's his document, not yours.

KFU Patent Exhibition — March 10, 2025

What this is: 29 WhatsApp photos from KFU's patent invention showcase, shared via WhatsApp on March 12, 2025. This is a public event in Saudi Arabia where KFU displayed the fruits of its U.S. patent portfolio — patents prosecuted under your name, displayed to an audience of faculty, students, administrators, and government guests.

What the Photos Show

The exhibition featured physical models and prototypes of patented inventions across multiple technology categories:

Each display table had tablets showing patent information — the docket number, the title, the inventors, and the prosecution history. These are patents that were prosecuted under your name as attorney of record. They were publicly displayed at a university event in March 2025 — 14 months after the arbitration was final, 2 months after the Line 74 switchover on newly-issued patents.

Why This Matters

This is not a paper exercise. KFU has the largest patent portfolio of any university in the world — 574 U.S. patents as of December 2, 2024, ahead of UC, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. Those patents were on display. They were part of KFU's public identity and institutional prestige. Every one of them was built under your name. That is what was being celebrated at the March 2025 exhibition — and you received no credit, no acknowledgment, and no compensation.

Priority discovery demand: The WhatsApp channel through which Goldberg communicated with KFU about patent prosecution matters is unproduced. The March 12, 2025 photo-sharing message confirms the WhatsApp channel was active as recently as 5 weeks before your demand letter. All WhatsApp communications with KFU, KSU, KISR, and other institutional clients should be demanded immediately in supplemental discovery requests.

KFU's Scale — In Their Own Words

"King Faisal University — #1 Patent-Granting University Globally" — NGM internal report circulated via kfu@4patent.com on December 10, 2024

NGM circulated that ranking internally. They knew the magnitude of what they were managing under your name. The kfu@4patent.com alias — your domain, their operation — was the channel through which that knowledge was shared.

The Complete Picture

When you put everything together — the name uses, the financial diversion, the continuing conduct, the admitted statements — this is what the case looks like as of April 9, 2026.

Total Documented Name Uses

Category Count
Patent file wrapper uses (905 × 31.9) 28,870
Martha Long client-facing emails with USPTO attachments 24,526
Total Martha Long email attachments delivered 149,067
Trademark dockets listing you as attorney/correspondent 245
TTAB proceedings under your name 12
Sworn § 8/9/15 trademark declarations under your name (through Jul 2, 2025) 20+
Outgoing USPTO documents across 21 patents (separate § 51 publications) 206
@4patent.com aliases operating on your domain 50
TOTAL DOCUMENTED USES ~202,956+

Combined Financial Picture

Category Amount
KFU uncredited 20% (442 transactions, Jan 2023–Nov 2024) $1,977,297
KSU uncredited 20% (net of $3,255 credited) $801,745
KISR uncredited 20% $54,474
Broader KFU recovery target (your Exhibit A) $13,930,000
Defensible anchor (NGM-produced 22-24 month totals, your 20%) $424,000 – $928,000
MSJ Point III damages range $6,100,000 – $77,900,000
COBRA health insurance (monthly, ongoing) $2,867/month
THREE-CLIENT UNCREDITED SHORTFALL $2,833,516

The Core of the Case — In One Paragraph

Goldberg signed 16 Powers of Attorney using your USPTO registration number (31622), prosecuted patents in your name, delivered those patents to institutional clients through Martha Long's 40,694 emails, collected $14.7 million from three clients alone — and credited you $3,255 of it. He never filed a Revocation of Power of Attorney. He never removed your name from the official record. He eliminated your email access one day after your litigation threat and then watched USPTO notices continue to arrive in your name for months afterward. Every dollar collected was generated because of the relationship KFU, KSU, KISR, and 98% of NGM's total client base associated with your name. Goldberg's own practice management system says so: 6,518 of 6,643 matters list you as the referral source.

Five Named Clients Who Said It Directly

Client Date What They Said
Thomas Bennington Jul 3, 2025 "a customer of Richard Litman's from way back... I thought the world of Mr. Litman."
Omar Albannai (Kuwait) Aug 17, 2025 "East or west Richard is the best, you are unplaceable to me."
Lev Dvorkin (Israel) Sep 18, 2025 "I turned to your firm solely for the reason that Mr. Richard Litman works with you." (Goldberg replied: "Yup. On it.")
Lynn Odland / Dakota Ag Oct 8–9, 2024 "Our experience with The Litman Law Office was such that we are not interested in looking elsewhere."
Dr. Faisal Al-Refaei / Dasman Institute Nov 12, 2024 Identified the firm by Litman's name and tied retention to his personal goodwill.

Each use was made for the purpose of generating fees that Goldberg then diverted. The name uses and the financial diversion are not two separate theories — they are the same transaction, observed from two different angles. The use of your name generated the client trust. The client trust generated the fees. The fees went to Goldberg. That is § 51.

Next Steps