By David Thomas

June 18 (Reuters) - U.S. automaker Ford Motor Company F.N on Thursday sued a California law firm for allegedly abusing the state's Lemon Law by filing fraudulent attorney fee petitions, its latest challenge to what it calls abusive tactics by plaintiffs' lawyers.

• Ford sued Los Angeles-based law firm Quill & Arrow in federal court, alleging it fabricated attorney billing records by attributing work done by non-attorneys including – overseas contractors who work as virtual assistants – to its own lawyers.

• The automaker said Quill & Arrow is a "fraudulent and illegal billing factory" designed to take advantage of California's Lemon Law.

• The state law, formally called the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, allows lawyers to collect legal fees from carmakers based on their work representing vehicle owners who successfully sue over automotive defects.

• Quill & Arrow allegedly performs tasks using overseas contractors who work as virtual assistants and are paid as little as $13 an hour, and then attributes that work to California attorneys who bill between $350 and $950 an hour, the lawsuit said.

• Ford estimated it has paid Quill & Arrow more than $50 million in fees since January 2021, and alleges that at least half of those fees were "fraudulently and illegally obtained through Quill’s systematic misrepresentation."

• Ford counsel Doug Lampe in a statement said Quill & Arrow's scheme was enabled by "the flaws in the California lemon law."

• Jonathan Shirian, managing partner of Quill & Arrow, in a statement called Ford's lawsuit "nothing more than an attempt to silence firms who would dare to hold them responsible and seek justice for consumers."

• Ford is appealing the dismissal in March of another lawsuit it brought against other California lawyers and law firms claiming they fraudulently inflated their legal fees under the state's Lemon Law, including allegations that a single lawyer billed more than 57 hours in one day.