Attorney Work Product · Privileged

Litman v. Goldberg — Case Research Dashboard

Case: Index No. 524343/2025 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Kings County) Judge: Hon. Brian L. Gotlieb, J.S.C. Surviving Claim: Count V — NY Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51 Updated April 18, 2026

Dashboard

Surviving Count
V
NY Civ. Rts. Law §§ 50–51. Counts I–IV dismissed 12/05/2025.
Termination Date
07/18/2025
Anchor for post-termination § 51 uses. Three findings corroborate.
SOL Cutoff
06/15/2020
Uses after this date are the damages universe.
SOL-Safe Cutoff
07/21/2024
Uses after this date are strongest for SOL defense.

Posture

Only Count V (misappropriation of name under N.Y. Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51) survives. Goldberg's Answer (Doc #65, 01/20/2026) admits Litman's name appeared on patent front pages and the NGM website after 6/15/2020 (¶¶ 32, 72); he denies that he "caused" it. The documentary record — including POAs he personally signed, a Goldberg-authored email to King Faisal University referring to Litman as "our attorney" (Bates LITMAN209485), a Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment he himself recorded with USPTO, and the firm's internal trust-accounting records — contradicts the causation denial.

Upcoming Deadlines

04/02/2026
Bills of Particulars due
past (16 days)
05/15/2026
Reservation-of-rights letter response deadline (proposed)
in 27 days
06/02/2026
Depositions complete — Goldberg depo still pending
in 45 days
09/22/2026
Compliance conference — CCP Rm 282, 9:30a, Judge Gotlieb
in 157 days
02/05/2027
Note of Issue
in 293 days

Evidence Weight Key

Findings and exhibits throughout this site are labeled as follows. The labels reflect documentary strength only; final characterization for counsel.

Party Admission Statement by Goldberg, NGM, or party-owned entity — self-authenticating or in sworn filing.

Strong Documentary NGM-produced record or public record that requires interpretation, not inference.

Pattern / Circumstantial Multi-event or volumetric evidence; weight depends on number and consistency.

Context Supporting but not dispositive.

Production Gap Absence of document that should exist — each gap is itself a finding.

Evidence Wizard

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Key Findings (Color-Coded by Documentary Strength)

Each finding below has a direct documentary anchor. Evidence weight reflects the directness of the anchor, not its ultimate persuasive value in settlement or trial.

Party Admission Goldberg's "our attorney" email — the willfulness anchor

Bates LITMAN209485 (12/20/2023). Email sent by Joshua B. Goldberg directly to King Faisal University's Prof. Hany via the kfu@4patent.com alias. In the body, discussing substantive patent prosecution on Docket 33160.75U, Goldberg writes:

"… Please ask the inventors, Saad Shaaban, Ali Aqeel, Yasair Al-Faiyz, Hussein BA-Ghazal, Ahmed A. Al-Karmalawy, to respond to our attorney's questions below."— Goldberg to KFU, 12/20/2023

Third-person ("our attorney") designates an attorney other than the sender. Goldberg cannot mean himself. The email post-dates the 6/14/2023 arbitration Award. Supporting: Sept 2021 "new dean" thread (Bates LITMAN272429, 272449, 272454) where Goldberg personally introduced KFU's incoming Dean Abdulrahman Allily to Litman as co-attorney.

Additional per-client anchors identified: LITMAN250428 and LITMAN250429 (KSU, 8/26/2024, Goldberg "our attorney") and LITMAN267104 (UAEU, 6/11/2024, Goldberg "one of our attorneys").

Party Admission Goldberg's June 11, 2025 written statement on KFU

"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."— Goldberg to Litman, 6/11/2025 (per iCloud photos evidence)

On the eve of the SOL date, the managing member acknowledges (a) Litman was entitled to a percentage, (b) Trust Ledgers for KFU "are blank," and (c) he does not know why Litman is not being paid. Directly supports Count V fee-diversion framing.

Party Admission AAA Arbitration Demand ¶¶ 15–20 — landlord membership

Litman's own prior pleading (LITMAN004080, AAA Arbitration Demand) establishes that Goldberg, Meyer, and Gary Nath are members of Goldtree Realty LLC and A2Z IP LLC — the two LLCs that co-own the firm's office building at 112 S. West Street, Alexandria. The document is self-proving for the related-party landlord structure underlying the rent pipeline below.

Strong Documentary $1.78M BoA Escrow phantom balance

Two documents produced by NGM via Connell Foley on the same day (4/17/2026) contradict each other on their face:

DocumentFigureField
Trust Listing for RCL Jan 2026$1,863,705.24BoA Escrow Acct_8777 — RCL-responsible matters
Trust Register Report Jan 2026$96,231.64 open / $80,935.64 closeFirm-wide t3 balance, same account, same month
Unaccounted-for excess≈ $1,782,769.60Asserted RCL share exceeds entire account

No bank statement is needed to establish the contradiction. See Eagle Bank / BoA Baseline Exhibit.

Strong Documentary $13,326 Eagle Bank Jan → Feb 2026 continuity gap

NGM's own Trust Bank Journal Feb 2026 opens at $1,294,242.41 on Eagle Bank Trust_0495. The same NGM's Trust Bank Journal Jan 2026 closes at $1,307,568.41. Difference: −$13,326.00. No transaction in either monthly journal accounts for the delta. Resolved by Eagle Bank's actual statement on subpoena.

Strong Documentary Turn-and-burn template — 20 executions, $11M swept to Nath & Associates operating

A documented accounting pattern on KFU umbrella docket 36372: incoming "KFU wire" followed within one business day by a "Transfer to Operating" sweep to Nath & Associates PLLC. Across September 2023 – February 2026: 20 major executions (inflow ≥ $100K) plus 121 smaller executions. Total swept: $11.09M.

DateINOUT (to Nath & Assoc.)ResidueSigner
9/14/2023$593,610$513,760$79,850VG / VG
12/26/2023$583,262$420,488$162,774VG / VG
2/13/2024$648,374$162,064$486,310VG / VG
2/29/2024$597,130$337,320$259,810VG / VG
3/19/2024$594,214$131,064$463,150VG / VG
4/4/2024$659,772$141,730$518,042VG / VG
4/9/2024$500,000$500,000$0VG / VG
10/28/2024$499,352$497,252$2,100VG / VG
11/20/2024$499,658$493,898$5,760VG / VG
2/9/2026$291,173$224,113$67,060VG / VG

The highlighted 4/9/2024 execution is a $500K in / $500K out / $0 residue / 1-business-day pass-through — trust account used as a conduit between firm operating accounts. That structure implicates Virginia RPC 1.15 on its face; weight for counsel to characterize.

Signer dollar-weight: Valencia Gray (VG) — 14.5% of transfer count, 72.3% of the dollars ($8.02M). Goldberg — 70.9% of count but 16.4% of dollars (signs the small ones). See full catalog.

Strong Documentary Related-party landlord — $36,601/month rent to partner-owned LLCs

The firm's operating address — 112 S. West Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 — is owned by Goldtree Realty LLC (Maryland) and A2Z IP LLC (Virginia). Members of both LLCs per LITMAN004080 ¶¶ 15–20: Goldberg, Meyer, and Gary Nath. NGM's own journal entries show $36,601/month booked as "Rent" under docket 37309 ($439,212/year). The monthly rent payments exit NGM via BoA Operating Account 003926172417, which has not been produced. Only May and June 2020 rent payments are visible in production (paid out of the client trust account while PPP loan proceeds were parked there — a distinct RPC 1.15 finding in its own right).

See Entity Structure Research, Entity Inventory, Rent Payment Trace.

Strong Documentary Fresh invoices issued under Litman's name after 7/18/2025 termination

NGM's AR Report as of April 2026 includes 35 invoices dated between 7/22/2025 and 10/15/2025 — after Litman's email accounts were eliminated — all identifying Richard Litman as Collecting Lawyer. Total billed: $176,070.00. 34 of 35 are to King Saud University. 100% outstanding. Each invoice is a freshly dated § 51 commercial use.

See Billed vs Paid Detail §2a and post-termination invoices CSV.

Pattern / Circumstantial 14,033 post-arbitration KFU emails delivering USPTO documents bearing Litman's name

Across the 6/14/2023 – 7/18/2025 window, 17,203 NGM → KFU emails were sent. 14,033 carry at least one attachment that is or appears to be a USPTO document (Notice of Allowance, Office Action, Filing Receipt, Issue Notification, IDS, Amendment, Assignment, Application). 65.7% have a subject-line attachment descriptor ("Notice of Allowance for KFU — Docket 33101.13U"), such that Litman's name is visible on the face of the email without opening the attachment. 3,189 distinct dockets represented.

Binders available at three volumes: 100 (settlement scale), 1,000 (production scale), 14,033 (complete). See 1,000-exhibit binder. Parallel binders for KSU (6,051), UAEU (1,477), Kuwait U (1,637), SQU (268), QF (42) also built — 23,508 total cross-client uses.

These uses are weighted below issued-patent-face uses. Their value is in the systematic multi-week repetition pattern, which supports willfulness and amplified damages under § 51.

Pattern / Circumstantial 8,024+ emails received in "eliminated" accounts post-7/18/2025

Goldberg claims Litman's email accounts were eliminated on 7/18/2025. Discovery production set ND0001 metadata shows 7,519 emails delivered to litman@4patent.com between 7/21/2025 and 12/31/2025; 334 to r.litman@4patent.com; 171 to rlitman@nathlaw.com. Total: 8,024+ emails. Contradicts the "eliminated" narrative. Also: the BHC Management USPTO notice on TM Serial 99034636 was sent to rlitman@nathlaw.com on 8/20/2025 — USPTO-generated, third-party sourced, outside NGM's control.

Production Gap July 2025 – December 2025 Trust Registers never produced

Six-month gap in monthly trust-accounting documents immediately following Litman's 6/26/2025 "seven figures owed" email and the 7/21/2025 lawsuit filing. Freedom Bank closure (7/28/2025) falls inside this gap. NGM has produced trust records continuously from April 2023 through June 2025 and again from January 2026 forward. The absence of the intervening six months is itself a finding that deserves a written representation or an explicit discovery demand.

Production Gap BoA Operating Account 2417 — never produced

NGM's operating account (where the $11M of trust sweeps lands and from which the $36,601/month rent exits) has not been produced. Bank statements on subpoena would confirm (a) monthly rent outflows to Goldtree/A2Z, (b) whether trust-sweep money funded related-party distributions, (c) partner-draw timing. The single subpoena with the highest marginal value.

§ 51 Commercial Uses

The universe of dated uses of Richard C. Litman's name for advertising or purposes of trade, organized by category. Each category is a separate path to statutory damages.

Category A — Issued Patents (Line 74)

905 U.S. patents issued since 6/15/2020 list "Richard C. Litman" as attorney on the front page.

  • 158 patents with Goldberg on Line 74 issued after 6/15/2025
  • 12 overlap patents issued post-7/21/2024 (both Litman and Goldberg named) — Bill of Particulars Exhibit A
  • 205 patents identified in the Line 74 switchover study (1/14–1/21/2025 transition from Litman to Goldberg)

905-patent dataset (CSV) · 12 post-7/21/2024 overlap patents · Exhibit A front pages (annotated)

Category B — Email Delivery of USPTO Documents to Paying Clients (Martha Theory)

Each email transmitted by NGM to a paying foreign-university client, attaching a USPTO document bearing Litman's name, is a commercial use of the name on the date sent — independent of when the underlying patent issues publicly (which the attachment is not, per 35 U.S.C. § 122). Post-arbitration window 6/14/2023 – 7/18/2025:

ClientCandidates% Subject-LabeledBinder
King Faisal University14,03365.7%100 · 1,000 · 14,033
King Saud University6,05162.8%100 · 500
Kuwait University1,63758.5%100 · 500
United Arab Emirates University1,47771.8%100 · 500
Sultan Qaboos University26847.4%100 · 268
Qatar Foundation4254.8%42
Total23,50812 binder PDFs

KFU Inventory Memo · Cross-client summary

Category C — Internal Billing Attribution

NGM's own accounting system tags revenue on active matters to Litman's attorney code (418 / "RCL as originating attorney"):

  • $254,106 of Q1 2026 client work tagged to "RCL as originating attorney" (334 line items, 42 dockets, 4 clients)
  • $1,513,899 billed under "Richard Litman" as Collecting Lawyer on 496 open invoices (AR April 2026)
  • 50 matters still attributed to RL as Responsible Attorney with trust-entry dates on or after 7/18/2025

Billed vs Paid detail · Trust positions CSV

Category D — Website / Professional Bio

nathlaw.com Litman professional bio pages (Wayback captures):

  • 6/21/2025: "PATENT ATTORNEY" (no "Retired") — Wayback
  • 7/8/2025: same status
  • 9/5/2025: removed from professionals page — Wayback

Category E — Trademark Filings

245 trademark dockets associated with Litman. Trademark LITMAN LAW OFFICES (U.S. Reg. 2,774,479) owned by Nath & Associates. 8+ TTAB proceedings involving Litman's name. See Trademark Name Use Memo and Trademark Exhibit.

Accounting & Trust Analysis

Q1 2026 — NGM's Own Production

On 4/17/2026 Connell Foley produced 36 files supporting a Q1 2026 $18,848 wire. The production became the most important single discovery event of 2026 because it contains NGM's contemporaneous admissions against interest.

Q1 2026 Wire to Litman
$18,848
96% drop from Q1 2024 baseline
NGM Q1 2026 Funds Received
$127,053
on RCL-originated dockets
NGM 80% Retained
$75,392
operating revenue under Litman's name
AR Billed Under Litman
$1,513,899
496 open invoices as of April 2026

Reconciliation Memo · Baseline Exhibit (PDF) · Original payment backup analysis

Turn-and-Burn Template on Docket 36372 (KFU Umbrella)

Across September 2023 – February 2026, NGM's own Trust Bank Journals document a repeating accounting template on KFU docket 36372: incoming "KFU wire" transaction followed within one business day by a "Transfer to Operating" sweep to Nath & Associates PLLC.

Major Executions (≥$100K)
20
9/14/2023 to 2/9/2026
Total Swept to Operating
$11.09M
488 KFU → Nath transfers
Signed by Valencia Gray
72.3%
of dollars (14.5% of count)
4/9/2024 Pass-Through
$500K / $0
in / residue, 1 business day

See Key Findings above for the 10-row executions table. Full catalog: TURN_AND_BURN_TEMPLATE_CATALOG.md. Side-by-side visual: Template Exhibit (PDF).

Historical Soluno Gap — $16.2M

Per prior forensic analysis (Anomalous Transactions Catalog):

MetricSoluno / WorkupActual Trust LedgerDifference
Total client receipts$16,506,604.92$32,708,669.08$16,202,064.16
KFU revenue$0.00$10,737,709.88$10,737,709.88
KSU revenue$0.00$3,720,000+$3,720,000+
20% due to Litman$2,402,451.86$4,299,347.35$1,896,895.49
Net balance owed (adjusted for $290K offset correction)($673.80) "fully paid"$2,186,895.49$2,187,569.29

Goldberg's own text admission: the Soluno system "drew its data from account ledgers that didn't include payments actually made."

Disability-Offset Correction (April 18, 2026)

The $290,000 MetLife long-term-disability offset was previously included in "Paid to Litman" totals in eight derivative summary files. The arbitrator already ruled that deduction was improper. Correction applied 4/18/2026 with dagger-footnote restatements:

FilePrior PaidCash-Only PaidEffect
FINANCIAL_EXHIBIT_2020_2025$3,578,990.30$3,288,990.30−$290K
KFU_KSU_RECONCILIATION$3,664,025.12$3,374,025.12−$290K
LITMAN_FIDELITY_PAYMENT_TIMELINE$3,276,440.61$2,986,440.61−$290K
PATENT_REVENUE_LINKAGE (shortfall)$504,728$794,728+$290K
AAA_PACKAGE_DEMAND_LETTERS (outstanding)$2,599,640.05$2,889,640.05+$290K
LITMAN_FINANCIAL_ACCOUNTING (owed)$2,990,643.20$3,280,643.20+$290K

Corrected files use a dagger footnote citing the arbitrator's ruling. Net effect: every damages memo's shortfall is now $290K larger and consistent with the arbitration finding.

PPP Loan Commingling (May–June 2020)

The two months of rent payments visible in production (May + June 2020) were paid out of the client trust account while $480,457 in PPP loan proceeds were parked there. Documented in NGM's own ledger.

This is a discrete finding: federal PPP loan proceeds → client trust account → rent to a related-party landlord. Virginia RPC 1.15 on its face; separate from SBA loan-forgiveness analysis, which counsel may choose to pursue.

Entity Structure & Related-Party Rent

The Law Firm

"Nath, Goldberg & Meyer" is a USPTO-registered service mark (Serial 86149326) owned by Nath & Associates PLLC, a District of Columbia LLC formed 5/23/1993 (SAM.gov UEI T3K3MDBJLJB8, CAGE 1U0Q1). The firm does business as:

  • Nath & Associates PLLC (the legal entity)
  • The Nath Law Group (d/b/a)
  • Nath, Goldberg & Meyer (d/b/a)

All three names appear stacked in the 5/27/2025 KSU letter (Bates ND0000218459): "Nath & Associates, PLLC, d.b.a. The Nath Law Group, d.b.a. Nath, Goldberg & Meyer." The 4/11/2024 bank wire confirms the stack. Every "Transfer to Operating — Nath & Associates" sweep is an internal two-account transfer within the same legal entity.

The Landlord

The firm's operating address 112 S. West Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 (Alexandria parcel 074.01-02-02, assessed $3,515,000) is owned by two related-party LLCs:

EntityStateMembersNotes
Goldtree Realty LLCMarylandGoldberg, Meyer, Gary NathPrimary — per LITMAN004080 ¶¶ 15–20 (AAA Arbitration Demand)
A2Z IP LLCVirginiaGoldberg, Meyer, Gary NathCo-owner — also USPTO TM Serial 86200282 (IP services)
Goldtree Realty P.B., LLCFlorida (Highland Beach)Judith K. Nath (unverified)TM assignee of GOLDTREE mark U.S. Reg. 2,774,479

Membership of Goldberg, Meyer, and Nath in Goldtree and A2Z is established by Litman's own prior pleading (LITMAN004080). The rent recipient is therefore a related-party landlord whose members are the three named partners of the firm.

The Rent

NGM's own journal entries show $36,601.00/month booked as "Rent" under docket 37309 paid to "Nath & Associates PLLC/Nath" as the intra-firm booking. Real recipient is Goldtree / A2Z via the unproduced BoA Operating Account 003926172417.

Monthly Rent
$36,601
booked in NGM GL, docket 37309
Annual Rent
$439,212
to partner-owned landlord LLCs
Post-SOL Rent Pipeline
≈ $2.49M
68 months × $36,601
Visible in Production
2 of 68
May + June 2020 only

The 66 months of invisible rent payments (≈$2.42M post-SOL) run through the unproduced BoA Operating Account. Zero firm-rent correspondence appears in the 276,899-row email corpus — all 229 "rent" hits are personal (daughter's NYC apartment, father's dental building, vehicle leases, CLE spam). The absence is itself evidentiary.

Entity Structure Research · Entity Inventory · Rent Payment Trace

Chain of Diversion

The concatenation of the turn-and-burn template, the operating-account black box, and the related-party landlord supports a single narrative chain:

KFU trust firm operating (BoA 2417) Goldtree / A2Z LLC rent Goldberg / Meyer / Nath K-1

Each monthly rent check is one-third of a partner distribution. Every dollar of rent is (a) a dollar that may have been swept from client trust without 20% allocation to Litman, (b) a dollar booked as an operating expense against a partner profit pool Litman was entitled to share in, (c) a dollar paid back to the partners personally via LLC vehicles.

This narrative requires confirming documents on subpoena — specifically BoA 2417 statements and Goldtree / A2Z K-1s. The documentary pieces are already in hand for each separate link; the end-to-end chain will be provable once those subpoenas land.

Willfulness Anchors

§ 51 provides for amplified damages where the use is knowing or willful. Below: the most direct documentary anchors of Goldberg's personal knowledge and continued designation of Litman as attorney.

LITMAN209485 — "our attorney's questions below"

12/20/2023. Goldberg to KFU Prof. Hany via kfu@4patent.com. Docket 33160.75U. Third-person designation. Post-arbitration. Native file: C2051472_ND0000207537.msg.

LITMAN272429 / 272449 / 274979 / 272454 / 274981 — "new dean" thread (Sept 2021)

Goldberg personally introduced KFU's incoming Dean Abdulrahman Essa Allily (aallily@kfu.edu.sa) to Litman as co-attorney. "Abdul specifically asked to speak with me and Richard." "Richard and I both enjoyed our discussion last week. Like you, we look forward to working together!" Post-SOL (6/15/2020), post-arbitration.

LITMAN250428 & LITMAN250429 — KSU "our attorney" (Aug 2024)

8/26/2024. Goldberg to King Saud University. Same third-person designation on Docket 33007.94 Notice of Allowance and Docket 33056.63 Issue Fee. Post-SOL-safe (post-7/21/2024).

LITMAN267104 — UAEU "one of our attorneys" (June 2024)

6/11/2024. Goldberg to United Arab Emirates University. Plural phrasing, weaker than "our attorney" but consistent pattern across clients.

Personal Signatures on USPTO Filings (same-application pairings)

Goldberg personally signed the PTO/AIA/82A transmittal in the same applications that issued with Litman on Line 74:

ApplicationIssued PatentGoldberg 82A DateLine 74
18/242,46512,043,608 B1 (7/23/2024)9/5/2023 — Reg. 44126Nath, Goldberg & Meyer; Richard C. Litman
18/511,80012,116,333 B1 (10/15/2024)11/16/2023 — Reg. 44126Nath, Goldberg & Meyer; Richard C. Litman

POA PDFs · Exhibit A annotated

Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment recorded with USPTO by Goldberg

Goldberg personally caused the recording of a Nunc Pro Tunc Assignment at the USPTO. His Answer ¶38 denies the paragraph but the recorded document bears his own initiation. Self-contradicting on the record.

Post-Termination Name Use (after 7/18/2025)

7/18/2025 is the termination anchor. Goldberg eliminated Litman's email accounts that day — one day after Litman's 7/17/2025 litigation threat and three days before the 7/21/2025 federal/state filings. Post-termination uses are particularly strong for SOL and for willfulness.

35 Fresh Invoices — $176,070 Billed Under Litman's Name After 7/18/2025

NGM's AR Report as of April 2026 includes 35 invoices dated between 7/22/2025 and 10/15/2025 identifying Richard Litman as Collecting Lawyer. 34 of 35 are to King Saud University. 100% outstanding.

Invoice CSV · Billed vs Paid §2a

50 Matters Still Attributed to RCL as Responsible Attorney

On the Feb 2026 and Mar 2026 NGM Trust Listings for RCL, 50 matters have last-trust-entry dates on or after 7/18/2025. Each is NGM's own record of treating Litman as Responsible Attorney on an active matter with post-termination activity.

8,024+ Emails Delivered to "Eliminated" Accounts

Between 7/21/2025 and 12/31/2025, ND0001 metadata shows 7,519 emails to litman@4patent.com, 334 to r.litman@4patent.com, 171 to rlitman@nathlaw.com. The accounts were receiving mail throughout the period Goldberg claims they were eliminated. Latest recorded delivery: 12/31/2025.

BHC Management USPTO Notice — 8/20/2025

USPTO-generated correspondence on trademark Serial 99034636 sent to rlitman@nathlaw.com on 8/20/2025. More than a month after the claimed 7/18/2025 email elimination. USPTO-originated, third-party-sourced, outside NGM's control.

The 2/9/2026 KFU Wire Repeats the 11/20/2024 Template

Documented in two NGM monthly Trust Bank Journals produced 15 months apart: incoming "Wire KFU Retainer" transactions followed by same-/next-day sweeps to Nath & Associates PLLC operating, leaving residues within $174 of each other. Same signer (VG) on both. Both occur after Litman's termination (the 2/9/2026 event) or during a period when Litman's allocation was already being underpaid (the 11/20/2024 event).

Defenses & Counter-Evidence

Goldberg has asserted 10 affirmative defenses in his 1/20/2026 Answer. Each is mapped to counter-evidence below. Use the Evidence Wizard branch "Responding to affirmative defense" for the full per-defense package.

DefenseCore Counter-Evidence
1. Consent (Amendment)Goldberg's own arb MSJ: agreement terminated 6/15/2020. Amendment § 3 licenses only email addresses, not name on patents.
2. Statute of LimitationsEach § 51 use independently timed. Post-7/21/2024 uses are SOL-safe on any calculation.
3. Waiver / AcquiescenceDisability period; 4/17/2025 and 5/26/2025 Litman requests for attorney-418 list; 6/26/2025 formal objection.
4. Res Judicata (Arbitration)Arbitration was contract forum; § 51 not litigated there. 14,033 KFU uses post-date the 6/14/2023 Award.
5. Collateral EstoppelSame as #4 — § 51 not an issue necessarily decided in arbitration.
6. Disability = DeathNGM asked Litman to collect from KSU post-"termination" (KSU collection memo). $290K MetLife offset was improper per arbitrator — now corrected in derivative memos.
7. No Commercial Use$1.5M billed under Litman's name; $254K tagged to him in Q1 2026; website bio active through 9/5/2025.
8. Settlement Discussions (Texts)Texts were settlement talks about unpaid comp, not consent. Litman believed himself Senior Counsel until 6/14/2023 Award.
9. Unclean Hands / LachesDocumentary record shows Litman objected at each reasonable opportunity; disability period tolls laches.
10. Failure to State a ClaimCourt already dismissed Counts I–IV but ruled Count V stated a claim (12/5/2025 ruling).

Settlement Analysis

The models below are analytical. Final settlement posture is for counsel. Each model anchors to documented use counts or documented dollar flows from NGM's own production. No figure below is a demand.

Observed Damage Components

ComponentDocumentedSource
Soluno gap (20% share shortfall)$2.19MCorrected for $290K MetLife offset — see fidelity timeline
AR billed under Litman's name (live)$1.51MAR Report April 2026 (496 invoices)
Outstanding under Litman's name$1.44M94.9% of billed; 100% older-bucket
Post-termination invoices under Litman$176K35 invoices, 100% outstanding
Q1 2026 NGM operating revenue retained$75.4K80% of Q1 collected fees on RCL-originated work
Turn-and-burn pipeline (20 major executions)$11.09MSwept KFU trust → operating 2023–2026
Invisible post-SOL rent pipeline≈ $2.42M66 unvisible months × $36,601
BoA Escrow phantom balance (Jan 2026)~$1.78MTrust Listing vs Trust Register contradiction

§ 51 Use Count — Statutory Damages Frame

§ 51 does not specify per-use statutory damages; it authorizes compensatory and exemplary damages. The use count matters for:

  • Willfulness scaling — the multi-year pattern supports amplified damages
  • Post-SOL-safe count (after 7/21/2024) — subset of uses for which SOL is not at issue
  • Per-use valuation — counsel may elect to argue that each use has marketplace value (attorney-name endorsement to a paying client)
Use CategoryCount (post-arb)
Issued patents (front page, Line 74)905
Post-7/21/2024 overlap patents12
KFU post-arb emails with USPTO attachments14,033
Other ME-client emails (KSU/UAEU/Kuwait U/SQU/QF)9,475
AR invoices live under Litman496
Trust-ledger entries still tagged RL as Responsible50 (post-term)

Three Illustrative Valuation Models

Each row below is one way of thinking about value. Counsel will choose the framing that best fits the case posture at mediation or trial.

ModelBasisIllustrative Value
A. Unpaid comp onlySoluno gap (corrected) + post-termination AR ($176K) + forward collection on $1.44M~$2.5M – $3.7M
B. Fee diversion + unpaid compModel A + 20% share on $11M turn-and-burn pipeline = ~$2.2M~$4.7M – $5.9M
C. Full § 51 use count, per-use modest23,508 email uses × $500/use (low-end per-use)~$11.8M
D. Same, with willfulness multiplierModel C × 3× statutory-amplification presumption~$35.3M

Models C/D are mechanical — most § 51 cases do not scale linearly to this number because damages turn on proof of commercial impact, the presence of a "marketplace" for the use, and each jurisdiction's treatment of amplified damages. Counsel will discount accordingly. The model is useful for establishing the range boundaries and for framing settlement.

Observation (Not a Recommendation)

The documented pieces support a settlement discussion in the mid-seven to low-eight figure range if the case is resolved pre-trial on the strength of the turn-and-burn template + entity-structure + post-termination facts. Counsel will set the number. The case materials in this dashboard will support any number in that range.

Three data points inform the range:

  • Floor: Fully documented unpaid comp (~$2.5M) + forward AR collection (~$1.4M) = ~$4M
  • Center: Floor + 20% share on documented $11M sweep pipeline (~$2.2M) + partial rent-diversion share = ~$7M
  • Ceiling (pre-willfulness-multiplier): Center + per-use § 51 damages at low-marketplace rates = ~$15M

Willfulness multipliers (if the court applies them) stack above any of these. Discovery yield — particularly BoA 2417 and the K-1s — will substantially affect whether the center or ceiling is the better anchor.

Discovery Roadmap

Discovery targets ranked by expected settlement impact per target, not by work volume.

Priority 1 — BoA Operating Account 003926172417

The single most valuable subpoena. Confirms monthly rent to Goldtree/A2Z, traces whether trust-sweep money funds related-party distributions, identifies all operating outflows (payroll, draws, other related-party transfers). Covers 1/2020 to present.

Priority 2 — Eagle Bank Trust 0495 Fedwire/SWIFT MT-103 Originator Detail

Two specific windows: 11/18–11/20/2024 and 2/6–2/10/2026. Confirms or refutes whether the $500K (2024) and $291K (2026) "KFU wires" originate from Al Rajhi Bank / KFU Riyadh or from a US-domiciled NGM-affiliated account. Either answer is case-defining.

Priority 3 — Goldtree Realty LLC + A2Z IP LLC

Operating agreements, cap tables, K-1 recipient lists, bank statements. Confirms the Goldberg/Meyer/Nath membership, quantifies the rent-distribution pipeline, and enables any related-party-transfer analysis.

Priority 4 — Freedom Bank

All records for the trust account closed 7/28/2025. Account opening through final closure. Signature cards, statements, transfers in/out. The account Schaeffer excluded from her 6/26/2025 Kren report.

Priority 5 — Monthly Bank Reconciliation Worksheets (Schaeffer)

The internal documents where NGM itself compared Trust Listing to Trust Register. If produced and show variances, the worksheets are contemporaneous awareness of the $1.78M phantom. If they don't exist, the absence is itself an RPC 1.15 violation.

Priority 6 — July–December 2025 Trust Registers

Fill the six-month production gap that straddles Litman's 6/26/2025 litigation threat, 7/21/2025 filing, and Freedom Bank's 7/28/2025 closure.

Priority 7 — IRS Form 1065 Schedule K-1s

Goldtree Realty LLC and A2Z IP LLC, tax years 2020–2025. Identifies all persons receiving rent distributions (may include family members beyond the three named partners).

Drafted / Standing Materials

Depositions — Prep Status

Goldberg (pending — did not appear 2/24/2026)

Question sets drawn from iCloud text threads and email admissions are indexed at GOLDBERG_DEPO_QUESTIONS_FROM_TEXTS.md. Core topics:

  • The 12/20/2023 "our attorney" email (LITMAN209485) — who the third person is
  • The 9/2/2021 "new dean" introduction thread — why Litman was introduced as co-attorney if Goldberg's position is that Litman was terminated in 2020
  • The 6/11/2025 "For KFU, you should clearly receive your percentage" admission
  • The 11/20/2024 $493,898 and 2/10/2026 $224,113 Nath & Associates sweeps — policy-level instruction
  • Freedom Bank — knowledge, closure timing one week after lawsuit filing

Schaeffer (new deposition target — CPA of record)

Full prep at SCHAEFFER_AND_GRAY_DEPOSITION_PREP.md. Question-set blocks: professional engagement, monthly reconciliation procedures, Freedom Bank, $1.78M phantom, turn-and-burn template, disability offset, client renumbering, RPC 1.15 awareness.

Flagged admission question: "Did you know before 7/28/2025 that NGM maintained an undisclosed third trust account at Freedom Bank containing client funds?" A yes answer establishes knowing spoliation by the CPA of record; a no answer contradicts her role as monthly reconciler and supports the theory that Freedom Bank was deliberately hidden.

Valencia Gray (new deposition target — accounting staff)

Same memo. Gray signed 72.3% of the dollars in the KFU-to-Nath transfer pipeline and 89% (133 of 150) of Q1 2026 transfer entries. Question-set blocks: role / reporting chain, 150+ Q1 2026 transfers, turn-and-burn template, 2/9/2026 wire memo narration, $13,326 continuity gap, Jan→Feb responsible-attorney reassignment, client renumbering.

Two flagged admission questions:

  • "Were you instructed to characterize the 2/6/2026 KFU wire as a 'retainer' rather than as payment against outstanding invoices?" — yes-answer directly establishes manufactured narrative.
  • "Did anyone at NGM instruct you that dockets 36372 and 135900 were to be used as holding accounts for pre-invoice funds?" — yes-answer independently proves commingling under RPC 1.15.

Martha Long (firm paralegal — continuing)

Sent the 40,694 client emails central to the § 51 commercial-use theory. Question focus: process for attaching USPTO documents, whether she was aware Litman was designated as attorney on the attachments she transmitted post-7/18/2025, who instructed her on routing through kfu@4patent.com and peer aliases.

Document Library

Primary Memos (Apr 2026)

Exhibit PDFs

Research Log & Context