Robert McKinley, a former partner at now-defunct Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis and the former intellectual property practice leader at Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg, was hit with an invasion-of-privacy suit in New Jersey state court on Tuesday over allegedly hiding cameras in bathrooms at his residences and secretly recording guests.
McKinley was arrested in April 2022 on 20 charges of manufacturing child pornography and possession of child sexual abuse material for allegedly recording at least seven girls using bathrooms and guest rooms in his Sewell, New Jersey, home, according to an indictment filed in Gloucester County and the warrant for McKinley’s arrest. Following that arrest, he was terminated from a position at New Jersey-based Lauletta Birnbaum, which is also named as a defendant in the new lawsuit.
McKinley is currently being sued for allegedly filming plaintiff Christine Fortuna without her knowledge when she visited his residences in Sewell and Villas, New Jersey, echoing the 2022 criminal charges. The suit, filed by Lowenthal & Abrams in Gloucester County Superior Court, accuses McKinley of invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Although the suit does not name a start date for when McKinley allegedly began filming Fortuna, McKinley’s criminal indictment charges him with possessing child pornography through illicitly recorded videos as early as July 2007, at the tail end of his tenure with Schnader Harrison, according to McKinley’s now-deleted LinkedIn profile. McKinley worked at Schnader Harrison from 1999 to 2007, before becoming an IP practice chair at Klehr Harrison through 2012.
From there, the attorney spent one year at RatnerPrestia before joining Lauletta Birnbaum in 2014, according to McKinley’s Linkedin page. After leaving that firm, he launched RMK Law.
Fortuna’s suit also brings claims against Lauletta Birnbaum over invasion of privacy and negligent infliction of emotional distress, claiming that the videos and photographs McKinley allegedly took were “transmitted by and through” servers at the law firm.
“Defendant Lauletta Birnbaum knew or should have known that Defendant McKinley was secretly recording women and girls at his home and storing the images on their computer systems prior to all or some of the images of plaintiff being taken,” the suit claims, adding that the firm allegedly “did nothing to stop or prevent” McKinley from continuing to record, store and send the illicit videos.
“As a direct and proximate result of Defendant Lauletta Birnbaum’s negligence and carelessness, Defendant McKinley was able to continue his outrageous and egregious violations of Plaintiff’s privacy,” the suit says.
According to the criminal complaint, McKinley allegedly used a DropBox account “affiliated” with his Lauletta Birnbaum email account to store the secretly recorded videos. A confirmation email sent to McKinley’s work email confirmed his $745 purchase of two spy cameras, according to the criminal complaint.
The current suit ultimately seeks compensatory, punitive and statutory damages, as well as attorney fees and costs with interest. The criminal charges against McKinley remain ongoing, with a status conference scheduled in April 19 signaling an impending trial.
McKinley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Timothy Ryan, counsel for the plaintiff, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an emailed statement, firm co-founder Lloyd Birnbaum said on behalf of his firm: “While the allegations against Mr. McKinley, if true, are repugnant and we truly feel for the victims of Mr. McKinley’s alleged wrongdoing, the firm had absolutely no reason to know of Mr. McKinley’s alleged conduct while he was associated with the firm and any claims by the plaintiff to the contrary are false and will be vigorously contested.”
McKinley has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges, and they are moving toward a trial, according to a spokesperson for the Gloucester County Superior Court.
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