The settlement Facebook reached with ConnectU, a social networking site Facebook creator Mark Zuckerburg worked on, was supposed to stay secret. But thanks to one law firm's overzealous PR department, the $65 million cat is out of the bag.

If the law firm of Quinn Emanuel, which bills itself as “the premier business litigation firm in the U.S.”, had a Facebook page, Wednesday’s status update might read something along the lines of “Quinn Emanuel is wishing it kept its mouth shut.” That’s because the firm’s public relations department accidentally disclosed the terms of what was supposed to be a $65 million confidential settlement between social networking site Facebook and ConnectU, a social networking site developed at Harvard University.

The settlement resolved a dispute between Mark Zuckerburg, who worked with ConnectU founders Divya Narendra and brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss on ConnectU and eventually created Facebook, Inc. The Winklevoss brother sued Zuckerburg in 2004, claiming he stole their ideas (and source code) to build what is now the world’s largest social networking site. ConnectU’s legal representation, law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, accidentally disclosed the terms of the settlement in a marketing brochure, according to the legal publication The Recorder.

Buried among dozens of other successful legal battles promoted in the firm’s January business litigation newsletter reads ‘"WON $65 million settlement against Facebook"’, which can be viewed on The Recorder’s Web site. ConnectU vs. Facebook, settled in August 2008 and approved by Judge James Ware of the US District Court for the Northern District of California, detailed only that the settlement would be a mix of cash and stock, excluding any specific dollar amount. The Recorder noted that Quinn Emanual’s chairman John Quinn asked that the amount not be published due to confidentiality agreement and stated the firm would not comment further on the issue. 

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