Business Litigation
Litigation to protect your business interests.
Companies understand the value of avoiding or preventing litigation. But when business negotiations fail, companies need a legal team with the tools and first-chair experience to win.
Most business disputes are resolved via motion or negotiated settlement before trial. We use our significant real-world courtroom experience to help you achieve better case resolutions earlier and reduce litigation expenses. Our deep litigation bench, which includes numerous Fellows of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, litigates on behalf of plaintiffs, defendants, claimants, and respondents in sophisticated disputes in federal and state courts throughout the country and in various arbitration forums.
Clients rely on our business-minded, client-centric litigation services for claims and disputes related to all forms of agreements or contract rights between individuals, shareholders, corporations, partnerships or LLCs; business torts, including prosecution or defense of interference with contract rights, fraud, unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets; infringement of copyrights and other intellectual property rights; negligent misrepresentation; civil conspiracy; and federal or state regulatory violations.
How we help clients
- Business advice and pre-dispute counseling
- Active litigation and advocacy
- Non-Party/third-party litigation
Our Team
We provide proactive business advice and pre-dispute counseling to prevent conflicts and manage active litigation effectively.
Business Advice and Pre-Dispute counseling
Our clients’ best interests are often served by avoidance of a protracted dispute. When that is not possible, we help our clients thoroughly prepare for the fight. We focus on the front end of commercial transactions to avoid potential conflicts, with services including:
- Drafting contract provisions for indemnification, venue, choice of law, forum selection, and alternative dispute resolution
- Training on the attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product doctrine, document retention policies, and litigation holds
- Assisting with early advice on document management and strategies for addressing potential e-discovery requests
- Responding to letters from opposing parties on potential emerging disputes
- Strategizing and counseling prior to a dispute
- Preparing and responding to demand letters
- Assisting with drafting and implementing litigation hold messages for document collection
- Developing prelitigation alternative dispute resolution measures
- Leading internal investigation of potential civil/regulatory violations
Active Litigation and Advocacy
Preparation is a cornerstone of our counsel. Clients turn to us in the earliest stages of a potential dispute or when they need first-chair, proven trial excellence and litigation depth to prosecute or defend full-blown litigation. Drawing upon firmwide resources as appropriate, we offer a highly effective litigation risk assessment to help clients achieve better case resolutions early. We mitigate and manage litigation claims and threats through services that include:
- Emergency motions for temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions
- Arbitration demands and complaints for damages and/or injunctive relief
- Litigation claims investigation and analysis
- Litigation holds and document management
- Compliance with federal, state, administrative, and arbitral tribunal litigation orders
- Witness depositions: taking, defending and preparing witnesses for depositions and evidentiary hearings
- Rule 30(b)(6) corporate representative witness depositions
- Expert witness reports and testimony development, as well as opposing expert witness depositions
- Motions to dispose of some or all claims
- Pre-trial mediation
- Development of litigation graphics and visual aids
- Pre-trial case and witness preparation
- Mock trials and focus groups
- Juror interviews/voir dire, jury selection, and jury trials in federal, state, and tribal court
- Bench trials in federal, state, and tribal court
- Administrative proceedings before federal and state agencies
- Arbitrations before JAMS, AAA, or other agreed-upon third-party neutrals
- Post-trial strategies, counsel, briefing, and mediation
Non-Party/Third-Party Litigation
When clients become involved in a lawsuit or agency investigation as a nonparty, we offer full guidance at every juncture. We have experience responding to third-party subpoenas, managing document production in response to third-party subpoenas, and preparing witnesses for nonparty depositions pursuant to third-party subpoenas.
Arbitration
Many of today’s commercial contracts and licensing agreements include a clause requiring arbitration as the exclusive method for resolving disputes. We have extensive experience representing clients in domestic and international arbitrations and in related trial and appellate court proceedings throughout the United States. Clients rely on our comprehensive litigation counsel and our record of success in persuading courts to compel arbitration; at the other end of the arbitration process, we have also succeeded in vacating arbitration awards unfavorable to our clients.
Litigation Risk Assessment
The Compliance Collective
Insights
News
Professional Experience
Contract Disputes/Breach of Contract
Stalwart Capital, LLC v. ICAP Pacific Northwest Opportunity and Income Fund, LLC, et al.
Represented the defendants on a complaint for breach of contract, breach of contract by successor liability, tortious interference with business expectations, and responsible corporate officer doctrine liability.
Global BTG LLC v. National Air Cargo, Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Prosecuted successfully breach of contract claim for Global involving a “Letter of Intent” under New York law in which Global contracted to find the financing for National for the purchase of eight 747 aircrafts. National, however, terminated the contract asserting various defenses. The jury rejected all of National’s defenses, found for Global and awarded it $8 million in damages, which with prejudgment interest resulted in a $10 million judgment.
LG Enterprises Inc. v. Washington Mutual Bank
Superior Court of Washington, King County
Washington State Court of Appeals
Represented bank in affirmance of summary judgment dismissing a breach of contract case where plaintiff claimed lost profits.
Business Torts
Familycare Health Plans, Inc.
Represent a Medicaid-managed care organization in litigation challenging the capitation rates set by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). We filed suit against OHA in Oregon state court to challenge the rates and the rate-setting process as actuarially unsound and in breach of a settlement agreement the parties previously executed regarding previous rates. We are also seeking damages from OHA’s PR campaign against our client. The revelation of that PR campaign led to the highly publicized resignation of the director of OHA and an amended complaint seeking additional damages for the “smear” campaign, as well as editorial coverage in multiple newspapers throughout the state of Oregon.
Frontier Resources, et al. v. Wachovia Bank, et al.
Negotiated a settlement prior to trial dismissing all of plaintiffs’ $191 million in lender liability claims and granting Wachovia and other banks $1.2 million in cash plus additional property on their counterclaims.
Corporate and Partnership/LLC Disputes
HTC
Represented HTC when HTC and Beats by Dr. Dre were sued by Monster Cable and its founder, Noel Lee, after Apple acquired Beats for over $3 billion. Monster claimed that, to facilitate and obtain the benefits of the Apple transaction, HTC and Beats had conspired to eliminate Monster’s contracts with Beats and Lee’s minority ownership interest in Beats. The defendants prevailed on summary judgment a few days before trial was to start in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Jones & Roth LLC
Represent a regional accounting firm in a class action suit alleging violations of the Oregon Securities Act and common-law duties including professional malpractice. This suit involves a claim that our client aided a large Ponzi scheme with the assistance of two co-defendant banking institutions. We negotiated a resolution which resulted in no out-of-pocket payment from our client and an assignment of our client’s claims against its insurance carriers.
Tofle Co.
Represented Tofle Co. in a complicated set of international issues and transactions arising from a lawsuit brought by our clients, a Japan-based manufacturer and its U.S. subsidiary, against a former secretary in the company who rose to serve as chairman of the board of the company as a result of her long-term liaison with the former owner and head of the company. Inappropriate transfers of stock and property took place in the United States over 20 years ago, and were only discovered by the parent company in Japan recently, resulting in litigation in both Japan and the United States. Despite Japan’s strong ties to the case, the clients defeated a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction and improper venue. We worked closely with Tofle’s corporate and litigation counsel in Japan, and the dispute was settled in a confidential resolution to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.
Injunctive Relief
MediaNews Group, Inc., et al. v. Revista Publishing LLC., et al.
Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
Obtained a TRO and then a preliminary injunction for MediaNews Inc. and its affiliated companies, the Los Angeles Daily News Publishing Company and California Newspapers Partnership. The injunction prohibited defendants, two former employees and a competitor, from disclosing or using MediaNews’ confidential customer information and from soliciting MediaNews customers whose identities were unknown to defendants absent use of the stolen information. The matter then settled based on the terms of the preliminary injunction.
Classic Party Rentals Trade Secret Cases
Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara
Obtained injunctive and monetary relief for Classic in a number of cases in which former employees illegally downloaded or otherwise stole confidential trade secret information and attempted to impart the information to their new employers and then use the information in competition with Classic. The matters were settled after obtaining the preliminary relief.
Big Fish Games V. Iwin
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Obtained preliminary and permanent injunctive relief for client Big Fish Games, in a case alleging violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, RICO, Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Unfair Business Practices Act and other statutes, based upon a competitor’s unauthorized access to Big Fish Games’ proprietary and trade secret information. The case was favorably resolved, after substantial discovery, through a confidential settlement.
Trials and Arbitrations
Confidential Client
Represented the client in a private arbitration before JAMS on claims for breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duties, constructive trust and appointment of a receiver involving a $50 million real estate development in Everett, Washington.
Pentel Co., Ltd.
Represented and obtained the reversal of a $14.6 million jury verdict against Pentel of America, Ltd. While represented by other counsel, Pentel lost a jury trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court in which the plaintiff, an advertising agency, alleged breach of contract and fraud, and was awarded over $32 million. After being retained, we won post-trial motions eliminating $18 million in fraud damages against both Pentel entities and, in the court of appeal, won reversal of the remainder of the judgment, reversal of a $1.5 million attorney fee award, and a new trial.
CenturyLink
Represented CenturyLink in a multimillion-dollar claim for breach of contract before the American Arbitration Association in Denver. The case was settled on terms favorable to CenturyLink.
CenturyLink
Represented Qwest against Covad Communications Company in separate arbitration proceedings before 14 different public utility commissions. A central issue in these proceedings was whether Qwest was required to lease components of its telecommunications network at cost-based rates or whether it was permitted to charge market-based rates. All but one commission ruled for Qwest, rejecting Covad's request for cost-based rates. John represented Qwest in its appeal of the single adverse arbitration decision, issued by the Arizona Public Utilities Commission. In a decision that had national implications, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the Arizona Commission.
HTC America, Inc. And HTC Corp. v. Personal Communications Devices, LLC
Represented HTC America and HTC Corp. in arbitration asserting breach of contract and other claims.
Synectic Ventures I, LLC, et al. v. Craig L. Berkman And Arthur Andersen, LLP, et al.*
State Court of Oregon
Jury trial representation of individual investors including public employee pension funds against venture capitalist and national accounting firm. Claims were theft, conversion, fraud and aiding and abetting by a professional services corporation. The four-week jury trial resulted in verdicts in excess of $60 million.
Dhillon v. BBC Holdings, et al.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Defended breach of contract and other claims related to alleged shareholder investment, resulting in a bench trial and judgment for defendants. Represented defendants on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed the district court decision.
Metalmark NW LLC v. Boggess
Representation of plaintiff Metalmark NW LLC in a federal jury trial against former associates for interference with business relations and civil conspiracy, resulting in a large jury verdict.
Metalmark NW LLC v. Stewart
Successfully represented Metalmark Northwest LLC in multiple cases in the Ninth Circuit after an AAA arbitration and a jury trial against a former partner and co-conspirator, resulting in a recovery of over $2 million.