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Experience
Class Action Defense
Broussard v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Defense of putative class action alleging violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Judgment of dismissal.
Chilcote v. Citizens Communications Company
Superior Court of Arizona, Pima County
Defense of consumer class action involving power outages. Substituted in as counsel of record after the class was certified and negotiated a favorable settlement.
In re Intel Laptop Battery Litigation
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Successfully defended Intel in a putative class action alleging that Intel wrote battery life and other benchmarks for its own benefit and then passed them off to an industry consortium. District court granted summary judgment dismissing the claims of several plaintiffs and then dismissed the rest of the case for lack of jurisdiction.
McLaughlin v. Abbott Laboratories
Superior Court of Arizona, Yavapai County
Trial and appellate counsel in proceedings for a brand name pharmaceutical company in an indirect purchaser price-fixing consumer class action brought under state law. Case settled on favorable terms.
Sun City Taxpayers' Association v. Citizens Utilities Company
U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Trial and appellate counsel in defense of civil RICO action seeking nearly $500 million in damages brought against a public utility alleging fraud in the rate-setting process. Judgment of dismissal, affirmed on appeal.
Securities & Corporate Governance Litigation
Allstate Insurance Company v. Mesirow Financial Inc.
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Defense of underwriter in securities fraud action relating to issuance of revenue bonds. Led efforts to limit claimed damages on behalf of all defendants which assisted in reaching a mediated settlement on favorable terms.
Shareholder Derivative Actions
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Counsel for publicly traded company in derivative action alleging misrepresentations in financial statements relating to alleged improper backdating of stock options. Judgment of dismissal.
Ariko v. Insight Enterprises Inc.
Superior Court of California, San Diego County
Defense of action alleging violations of California securities fraud statutes. Judgment of dismissal.
Arizona Pension Trust Funds v. Chemical Bank
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Defense of securities fraud, ERISA fiduciary and RICO litigation based on conduct of investment manager in connection with over 100 investments in Arizona real property assets. Developed and led implementation of an aggressive counterclaim strategy that resulted in a mediated settlement for a small fraction of the more than $750 million in claimed damages.
Case Filed Against Arizona Law Firm
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Defense of Arizona law firm in multi-count federal court action for alleged legal malpractice and other wrongdoing in connection with collapse of concrete business. Judgment of dismissal.
Case Filed Against New York Law Firm
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Defense of legal malpractice claim seeking more than $20 million brought by the former trustee of an ESOP who had been held liable for fiduciary breach under ERISA in connection with its approval of a leveraged buyout. Settled for a small fraction of the claimed amount.
Grand Metropolitan PLC v. Pillsbury Company
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Defense of declaratory judgment action brought at the inception of an unsolicited tender offer challenging the constitutionality of Arizona's Acquisition of Control Act. Judgment of dismissal.
Grand v. Nacchio
Superior Court of Arizona, Pima County, Court of Appeals of Arizona, Supreme Court of Arizona
Defense of former officer of a public company in Arizona securities fraud action seeking more than $20 million relating to the alleged improper disclosure of the accounting treatment of indefeasible rights of use (IRU) transactions. Judgment of dismissal, affirmed on appeal.
Hovde Acquisition, L.L.C. v. Visitalk.com Inc.
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Defense of former officer in securities fraud action relating to private offerings by Internet start-up. Judgment of dismissal.
Hoylake v. British American Tobacco Industries, p.l.c.
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Defense of target of an unsolicited tender offer in litigation challenging the constitutionality of Arizona insurance statutes. Action dismissed following denial of plaintiff's request for preliminary injunction.
Scognamillo v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Company
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Defense of underwriter in securities fraud action alleging wrongful IPO "laddering." Judgment of dismissal.
Seinfeld v. Barrett
U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
Defense of Intel Corporation in derivative case filed against Intel and its directors alleging misrepresentations in proxy solicitation relating to Executive Officer Incentive Plan. Settled.
Springborn v. Arthur Andersen, LLP, Rural/Metro Corporation, et al.
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Defense of various officer and director defendants in a putative class action alleging both state and federal securities fraud claims. Judgment of dismissal.
Western Town, L.L.C. v. Pinnacle Rawhide, L.L.C.
American Arbitration Association
Action by minority interest holder to enforce terms of LLC management agreement. Settled on highly favorable terms following deposition of a key defense witness.
Intellectual Property Litigation
Cardiac Institute General Partnership v. Banner Health System
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Action to enforce multi-year noncompete agreement relating to provision of cardiac services on the campus of two East Valley hospitals. Settled on highly favorable terms following the deposition of a key defense witness.
Citizens Communications Company v. Cannon Publishing Inc.
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Action under the Lanham Act for deceptive comparative advertising relating to directories. Judgment for plaintiff/client and permanent injunction issued.
In re Qimonda AG
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Action by Objector, Intel Corporation, challenging the Insolvency Administrator’s election to “non-perform” patent cross-license agreements with Intel and several other semiconductor companies. Following one-week evidentiary hearing, the court sustained the Objectors’ challenges and entered judgment requiring that §365(n) be applied to Qimonda’s U.S. patents, thereby protecting their license rights. Affirmed on appeal.
Integrated Information Systems, Inc. v. Oracle Corporation
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Defense of action to void software license. Judgment of dismissal.
MDS Qantel Inc. v. Digiserve
Superior Court of California, Contra Costa County, Court of Appeals of California
Action for trade secret misappropriation. Judgment for plaintiff/client and permanent injunction issued.
Mobile Mini Corporation v. Hahn
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Action for trade secret misappropriation. Settled on favorable terms after issuance of preliminary injunction.
Move, Inc. v. Zillow, Inc.
Superior Court of Washington, King County
Represented the defendant Zillow in a trade secrets case against its largest competitor in which the plaintiffs sought approximately $2 billion in damages. After the court dismissed more than $1 billion of plaintiffs’ claimed damages, found in favor of Zillow on allegations of spoliation, and granted several of the client’s motions for partial summary judgment, case settled on what was scheduled to be the first day of trial.
Olympus Company v. Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation
Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
Defense of claim for breach of joint development contract for optical switch components. Settled on favorable terms shortly after deposition of key witnesses for plaintiffs.
PowerDsine Inc. (Microsemi Corporation), et al. v. AMI Semiconductor Inc. (ON semiconductor)
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Defense of action alleging misappropriation of proprietary information disclosed under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) relating to integrated circuits used in Power-over-Ethernet technology, and seeking $88 million in damages. Case settled on highly favorable terms after court found sufficient merit in defendant's oral motion to exclude plaintiff's damages expert and to strike plaintiff's damages claims to suspend the trial in its second week.
TASER International Inc. v. Watkins
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Action for permanent injunction and an equitable assignment of a patent based on alleged breaches of fiduciary duty. Judgment issued granting permanent injunction and equitable assignment.
Business Litigation
Austin Ranch Utilities Company v. West Surprise Landowners Group LLC.
Defense of malicious prosecution claim seeking $54 million in compensatory damages arising out of an earlier proceeding to compel construction of a waste water treatment facility and related components. Judgment of dismissal, affirmed on appeal.
Banta Corporation v. Honeywell International Inc.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin
Defense of breach of contract and fraud action relating to attempted procurement of a contract for the U.S. Department of Defense. Settled on favorable terms in mediation.
Citibank (Arizona) v. First National Bank of Arizona
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Action for common law fraud based on defendant bank's alleged complicity in customer's fraudulent scheme. Settled on highly favorable terms following denial of defendant's motion for summary judgment.
Confidential International Arbitration
Uncitral Arbitration in Hong Kong
Obtained arbitration award for more than $60 million for Fortune 100 company in breach of contract action
EnerGCorp Inc. v. Peter J. Workum
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Action for common law fraud and breach of fiduciary duty to recover money from former CEO of Canadian public corporation. Settled on favorable terms after defendant's answer and counterclaim were stricken for litigation misconduct.
Express America v. Greenwich Capital Markets
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
Action to enforce terms of a buy-sell agreement. Judgment for client on all issues.
Hahn v. Mobile Mini Inc.
District Court of Oklahoma, Oklahoma County
Defense of claims alleging predatory pricing in violation of Oklahoma law. Judgment of dismissal.
Intel Capital Corporation v. Green Packet Berhad
High Court of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
Action in the to enforce terms of a contract. Judgment issued awarding client full relief requested (approximately $25 million).
Kana Inc. v. Burger King Corporation
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County; Court of Appeals of Arizona, Arizona Supreme Court
Defense of Burger King Corporation in action by former franchisee alleging breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and RICO claims, and prosecution of counterclaims. Three-week jury trial and subsequent appeal resulted in a judgment for client on all claims.
KB Urban Inc. v. MW Anaheim Partners LLC
Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles
Defense of Weyerhaeuser Realty Inc. against claims for breach of contract and common law torts asserted by KB Home and certain of its affiliates arising out of defendants' termination of funding for the development of three large condominium projects in the greater Los Angeles area. Case settled immediately before trial for a small fraction of the more than $100 million in claimed damages.
TeleTech Holdings Inc. v. Insight Enterprises Inc.
American Arbitration Association - Phoenix Regional Office
Defense of Insight Enterprises against a claim by TeleTech that it was entitled to a $5 million clawback payment under the terms of a stock purchase agreement. Following a three-week arbitration proceeding, the Arbitrator ruled in favor of Insight and awarded Insight its attorneys’ fees and costs.
Weedon v. City of Chandler
Superior Court of Arizona, Maricopa County
Defense of Intervenor-Defendant, Covance Laboratories Inc., in challenge by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to the City of Chandler's approval of Covance's plans to build a large animal testing facility based on alleged violations of zoning and open meetings laws. Judgment of dismissal.
Investigations
Confidential Public Company Investigation
Investigated company’s stock option issuance practices.
Confidential Public Company Investigation
Investigated company’s compliance with teams of consent decree.
