# Draft Reservation-of-Rights Letter (v2) — Q1 2026 Payment **Update vs. v1:** Expanded Section 2 with four additional accounting-report demands per Mr. Litman's 4/17/2026 direction that an AR aging report alone is insufficient. **From:** Scott D. Woller, Esq. (WACHTEL MISSRY LLP, counsel for Plaintiff) **To:** Aaron H. Gould, Esq. (Connell Foley LLP, counsel for Defendant) **Cc:** Leo J. Hurley, Jr.; Jared Hotchkiss (Connell Foley); Richard C. Litman **Re:** *Litman v. Goldberg,* Index No. 524343/2025 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Kings County) — Receipt of Q1 2026 Payment Backup **Date:** April __, 2026 --- Dear Aaron, Thank you for your email of April 17, 2026 at 10:05 a.m. ET forwarding the Q1 2026 payment backup and advising that a $18,848.00 wire transfer is being remitted "shortly." On behalf of Richard C. Litman, we write to confirm receipt of the 36 files produced with your email and to memorialize the terms under which Mr. Litman accepts the wire. ## 1. Acceptance Under Reservation of Rights Mr. Litman accepts the $18,848.00 Q1 2026 wire **without prejudice to any claim**, including without limitation all claims pleaded or available to him in the above-captioned action and in any related forum (USPTO Office of Enrollment and Discipline, Virginia State Bar, District of Columbia Bar, any arbitral forum, and any not yet commenced). Acceptance of this payment is **not**: - an acknowledgment that NGM has correctly calculated the collected-fees denominator from which the 20% share is derived; - a waiver of any claim under New York Civil Rights Law §§ 50–51, including claims for the continuing commercial use of Mr. Litman's name evidenced in the very materials you have produced; - a waiver of any claim for the amounts not yet collected on invoices currently bearing Mr. Litman's name; - an admission that the firm's trust reconciliation is complete or accurate; or - a release of any claim arising from the pattern of post-relationship attribution we describe below. ## 2. Material Items Requiring Explanation The Q1 2026 production raises several categories of issue that warrant written response from your client before the next payment cycle, and as to which Mr. Litman expressly reserves his rights pending that response. ### a. Collected-Fees Denominator NGM's own *Payment Allocation by Client Report for RCL as originating attorney* reflects $254,105.56 in Q1 2026 client work (334 line items across 42 dockets) attributed to Mr. Litman as originating attorney. The *Litman 2026 Summary_March* spreadsheet nevertheless reduces that figure by half before applying the 20% share. Please identify the contractual or equitable basis for that 50% reduction and confirm whether the reduction has been applied consistently since at least January 2020. ### b. Continuing Commercial Use of Mr. Litman's Name The produced materials are themselves evidence of ongoing commercial use of Mr. Litman's name and professional identity after the July 18, 2025 termination. Specifically: - The *AR Report April 2026* (AR_Report_202604_RL.xlsx) identifies "Richard Litman" as the **Collecting Lawyer** on **496 open invoices** totaling **$1,302,403.04 billed** against **374 dockets** for 15 clients. Only $77,213.28 (5.9%) has been collected, leaving **$1,225,189.76 outstanding**, 100% of it in the "Older" aging bucket. - **161 of those invoices are dated 2025**, at least some of them issued after the July 18, 2025 termination. - The Q1 2026 *Payment Allocation* reports identify "RCL" as originating attorney on work for **four clients, two of which — Sultan Qaboos University and Qatar Foundation — do not appear in prior-period records**. We demand production of (i) each of the 161 invoices dated 2025, with issue and send dates; (ii) all documents indicating when Mr. Litman's name was first placed on the Sultan Qaboos University and Qatar Foundation files and on whose instruction; and (iii) any document authorizing NGM to use Mr. Litman's name as "Collecting Lawyer" or "Originating Attorney" on invoices or internal reports after July 18, 2025. ### c. Trust Reconciliation — Not AR Aging Alone Comparison of the three produced *Trust Listing for RCL* reports reveals that the total trust balance attributed to Mr. Litman as Responsible Attorney dropped from **$2,701,576.32** on January 31, 2026 to **$1,092,426.73** on February 1, 2026 — a reduction of **$1,609,149.59** in a single day. The corresponding *Trust Register* reports show firm-wide bank activity for that period totaling only $40,484.90 net (across both Eagle Bank Trust and the Bank of America Escrow account), which does not account for the balance-of-responsibility movement. Separately, the January 2026 Trust Listing represents that Mr. Litman's matters hold **$1,863,705.24** in Bank of America Escrow Acct_8777, while the contemporaneous Trust Register shows that account's **firm-wide balance was $96,231.64 opening and $80,935.64 closing**. Mr. Litman's reported share exceeds the account's total by approximately **$1.78 million**. **An aging-by-client AR report alone is insufficient to reconcile these anomalies.** We accordingly demand the following additional productions from your client's accounting system (PCLaw / PracticeMaster / any successor), for the period January 2020 through present unless otherwise specified: 1. **Complete bank statements** for Bank of America Escrow Acct_8777 — January 2024 through present. 2. **Complete bank statements** for Eagle Bank Trust Acct_0495 — January 2020 through present. 3. **Complete bank statements** for Freedom Bank trust account (closed 7/28/2025) — account opening through closure, including the final reconciliation. 4. **Matter-level trust–bank reconciliation reports** — one per matter bearing Mr. Litman's name as Responsible or Originating, showing all trust receipts, disbursements, transfers, and ending balances tied to deposits/withdrawals in the bank statements in 1–3 above. 5. **Responsible-attorney reassignment log** — itemizing each matter that moved out of "RL" as Responsible Attorney (or from "RL" as Originating Attorney) between January 31 and February 1, 2026, with the name of the new Responsible/Originating Attorney, the date and authority for the change, and the trust balance (if any) at the time of reassignment. Extend to any comparable reassignment event since 2020. 6. **Matter-level transaction journal** — entries for every matter where Mr. Litman appears in any attorney role (Originating, Responsible, Collecting, Credit), showing every time entry, expense entry, payment, disbursement, and inter-matter transfer for 2020–present. 7. **Credit-Lawyer detail report** — the full breakdown corresponding to the *Credit Lawyer Firm Summary* sheet of AR_Report_202604_RL.xlsx, matter-by-matter, showing billed, collected, and outstanding by credit-lawyer per matter. 8. **Revenue allocation detail** — the monthly or quarterly internal report that ties each dollar collected to originating-attorney / collecting-attorney / credit-attorney / working-attorney shares, for 2020–present. We infer from the 50% halving in the Q1 2026 Summary that such a report exists. 9. **Run-through of the NGM_Litman_Workup.xlsx master ledger** — confirmation of completeness vs. the firm's production accounting records; identification of any matters bearing Mr. Litman's name in any role that do **not** appear in NGM_Litman_Workup.xlsx; and explanation of any such omission. 10. **Written reconciliation of the $1.78M apparent over-attribution** shown in the January 2026 Trust Listing for BoA Escrow Acct_8777 vs. the Trust Register firm-wide balance. ### d. Freedom Bank and Other Accounts The Q1 2026 trust production reflects activity in only two accounts (Eagle Bank Trust_0495 and Bank of America Escrow Acct_8777). No reference to the Freedom Bank account closed on July 28, 2025 appears anywhere in the Q1 2026 documents. We continue to reserve all rights with respect to that account, including our previously demanded production of Freedom Bank records prior to closure (item 2(c)(3) above). ## 3. Next Steps We ask that you respond in writing by **May 15, 2026** with (i) the reconciliations and productions requested in Section 2 and (ii) the reassignment log and bank statements described therein. We expect that the Q2 2026 payment, if any, will be accompanied by the same supporting documents at the same granularity, including an updated AR Report and Trust Listing, and now also the supplemental reports described in Section 2(c), items 1–10. If the materials above are not forthcoming, we will move to compel, will raise the issues at the next scheduled status conference before Judge Gotlieb, and will consider whether the issues warrant a separate spoliation application. Nothing in this letter is a waiver. All of Mr. Litman's rights under the Second Amended Complaint, under the Count V claim that survives dismissal, and under the BOP dated April 2, 2026 (and any supplement thereto) are expressly reserved. Thank you for your cooperation. Very truly yours, **Scott D. Woller** WACHTEL MISSRY LLP --- ## Internal Notes (Not Part of Letter) ### Why the expansion to 10 demanded reports in Section 2(c) Per Mr. Litman's 4/17/2026 note, an AR aging report alone cannot surface the anomalies we need to address. Each of items 1–10 covers a different diagnostic angle: - **Items 1–3 (bank statements):** The authoritative ground truth for what happened in the trust accounts. Without these, NGM's internal trust reports are uncheckable. - **Item 4 (matter-level reconciliation):** Ties the matter ledger to the bank ledger. Exposes any matter where trust was received but never held in the account, or vice versa. - **Item 5 (reassignment log):** Directly targets the Jan 31 → Feb 1, 2026 $1.59M drop and any analogous prior events. - **Item 6 (transaction journal):** The full audit trail at matter granularity. Shows every firm-side posting. - **Item 7 (Credit-Lawyer detail):** The "Firm Client" category alone holds $183K in AR — these may be improperly routed away from Mr. Litman's credit. - **Item 8 (revenue allocation detail):** Answers the 50% halving question (item 2(a)) with source documents. - **Item 9 (NGM_Litman_Workup.xlsx completeness):** Tests whether the master ledger is the complete picture or a selective filter. - **Item 10 (written reconciliation):** Forces NGM to explain the $1.78M phantom balance in writing — sets up either a written concession or a written denial that can be impeached against the bank records. ### Recommended filing of this letter with court Hand-deliver, certified, and email. Keep the email record for authentication. File a notice of demand with the court if no response by May 15 deadline.