The leadership fight in the Flint water contamination cases has escalated, with co-lead counsel firing back against “false and misleading accusations” and at least one defendant in the case raising concerns about the communications that all the lead plaintiffs lawyers have had with prospective class members.

Ted Leopold and Michael Pitt, co-lead counsel for the lead class action brought on behalf of Flint residents, have asked U.S. District Judge Judith Levy, who is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to remove Hunter Shkolnik as one of two lawyers serving as liaison counsel to the individual cases. They claimed Shkolnik was luring prospective class members into signing excessive and illegal retainer agreements with his firm, New York-based Napoli Shkolnik.