Clifford Chance has become embroiled in a bizarre case with a former client that is accusing the major international firm of fraudulent billing and malpractice. This is all CC needs after its “padding” debacle less than a year ago.

The lawsuit, filed by Mylan Pharmaceuticals on 8 August, arose as a result of an antitrust case that Clifford Chance’s US office had acted on since 1999 and which settled last year.

Mylan is claiming that the firm acted wrongly on the settlement and the $19m (£11.8m) fee was too high. Mylan is claiming damages, although it has not specified the amount. In a strange twist, Mylan has brought a suit against New York white collar crime firm Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Silberberg, which was involved in the same case.

The timing is unfortunate, as it comes less than a year after Clifford Chance’s New York associates penned a damning memo, which said the firm encouraged the ‘padding of hours’.

Mylan made the filing against the US firm in February, but Morvillo, who is currently representing Martha Stewart and who also acted for Merrill Lynch against claims by New York Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer, is fighting the suit. It filed for a dismissal in July.

Clifford Chance was in receipt of the lawsuit, but it would vigor-ously defend Mylan’s claims.