Barnes & Thornburg has stepped into a lawsuit over the insurance coverage of a $3.6 million home after the Los Angeles lawyer who filed the case, Christopher Hook, sent more than 100 profanity-laced and threatening emails to the defense team at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton.

Hook, of the Law Offices of Christopher G. Hook in Culver City, California, told a San Diego team at Sheppard Mullin to “eat a bowl of dicks” and “pay up fuckface,” according to an ex parte application that its client, Allstate Insurance Co., filed. Allstate has sought to dismiss the case, remove Hook as counsel or impose sanctions against him. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright of the Central District of California ordered Hook to show why he should not sanction him and toss his case in light of his actions.