What We Do
(And Some Insight Into How We Do It)

War Stories

Fraud. Represented a company that thought it had purchased a majority interest of a minor league hockey team from a company in Minnesota owned by an individual who ultimately was convicted and is serving prison time for widespread fraud (the "fraudster"). As the complex underlying purchase transaction was dissected, it became clear that our clients did not own a majority interest in the team, and that they had been induced to make the purchase based on the seemingly clear title to the team, as reflected in UCC searches of the Minnesota Secretary of State. In reality, the fraudster simply told his attorneys that he had paid off prior encumbrances on the team, and the attorneys blindly took his word for it and then filed UCC termination statements, incorrectly (and unlawfully) telling the world that the team was free and clear of any liens.

In an attempt to work the matter out quickly with the attorney originally representing the fraudster's law firm, we decided to lay out all of the complex documentation demonstrating the law firm's liability. The result -- nearly 20 minutes of telephonic chest pumping from the self-declared "more experienced" Minnesota attorney. He boasted that his clients were not going to pay a penny because there was no viable claim since Minnesota has nearly impossible-to-meet prerequisites to filing a malpractice claim against a Minnesota attorney, and didn't recognize the cause of action of negligent misrepresentation against an attorney. The answer? Sue the attorney in Federal Court in Illinois, even though he had never stepped foot in Illinois as part of the transaction. The "opinion of counsel" letter he drafted was the justification for jurisdiction, as well as the representations made to the buyers' Illinois counsel. After withstanding the expected motion to dismiss, and on the eve of the fraudster's lawyer's deposition, the other side asked us to mediate the case. We happily did so, and walked away with a handsome settlement. And because we also named the fraudster and his wife, who were the owners of the selling company, as defendants, our client also obtained the rest of the unencumbered team through a settlement with them.

Another Fraud. Two guys sold a business (there’s a Stadium named after this business) to our client. The purchase agreement provided for bonuses up to $60 million to the sellers if sales targets hit certain levels. So what better way to meet those targets than to bribe the buyer of one of our biggest customers. (We’re talking about buying the buyer a house.) Our client got wind of this, and we undertook an investigation, ultimately suing the sellers for fraud (among other things). We not only escaped the payment obligations (the CFO was particularly pleased when he was able to reverse those accruals) but recovered a tidy sum as well.

Legacy Liability. Buyer and Seller of assets and liabilities of a company with a long and tortured corporate history unsuccessfully attempted over a period of years to negotiate responsibility for mass tort liability that buyer faced. After negotiations failed, we handled the arbitration for the Buyer (with expedited discovery that rivaled any “fast track” federal lawsuit). After the arbitration began and we put on a portion of our case, the arbitrator strongly suggested that the parties “discuss the matter” and the case resolved that night on much better terms for the Buyer than had been discussed before the earlier settlement dialogue had broken down.

Defamation. Represented a university and an affiliated professor in a multi-million dollar defamation case. After filing a strong motion to dismiss, and, over breakfast with the other side’s attorney (our treat) where we were frank about the likely future fight, we were able to get our clients out of the case for zero dollars and an agreement not to publicly discuss the other guys for a period of time (see what having a good rapport with opposing counsel – and paying for breakfast -- can accomplish?).

We Beat The Nuns on Broadway. The Sisters of St. Mary (actually, a hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, not the nuns) filed a class action on behalf of all hospitals in North America seeking to recover the costs of removing asbestos from their buildings. We set out to defeat class certification, and used many novel shortcuts to avoid extensive discovery. Knowing that asbestos defendants lose close calls, we filed a massive challenge to class certification that included consitutional arguments based on choice of law issues as well as arguing the matter was not manageable as a class action. The latter point was not argued, it was illustrated by a 5-page play (think broadway script here) that was contained in the oppositon brief. In an 87 page opinion, the trial, while acknowledging a desire to certify the class, acknowledged that the play had persuaded him the matter was simply not manageable. The plaintiff then dismissed our client and proceeded in a single-plaintiff suit.

And We Beat The Priests Too. The Archbishop of St. Louis sued the asbestos companies too. After we uncovered some shenanigans involving some important documents, the Archibishop’s lawyers asked our client to take its lawyers and go home. They filed the nonsuit papers that day.

The Showdown With The Town Bully. The town bully sold our client a landfill. He hadn’t been able to secure an expansion permit. We did, making it the “crown jewel” in our client’s IPO disclosure statement. Then the town bully wanted it back. So he sued. And while we can’t show for certain that he was responsible, we do know that the client’s local office was bugged. Tires were slashed. It was nasty. Not only did we defend, but we investigated, ultimately filing a RICO claim against the bully and his advisors, one of whom was running for Congress. She was uncomfortable having her tax return investigated, which the Federal Judge allowed us to do. Really uncomfortable. Especially when reporters started calling her. Settlement talks ensued. We eliminated a multi-million royalty obligation, acquired 160 acres of land adjacent to the landfill (suitable for still-further expansion), got all sorts of injunctive relief and heavy liquidated damages provisions for any violation of the settlement agreement as well as other cool stuff. The town bully was not heard from again. The candidate became a Congresswoman and developed amnesia about the events of this case. Our client was very happy.

Mass Tort Management. Several times, we’ve been asked to take over mass tort dockets as national counsel or as local counsel. Each time, the mission was to bring settlement averages down. We’ve been successful every time. We advise our clients that an acceptable peace sometimes only comes after a war is fought, so they have to be prepared to fight and to endure some short term discomfort. But we always measure our success. In one situation, we reduced payouts by 75% for one defendant with a particularly bad track record. For another defendant, we’ve lowered payouts to an average of a weekly Starbucks’ bill—for one!

The "Smoking" Gun.  In a product liability trial we were defending, the plaintiff alleged that his lung cancer was caused by our client's product. He also claimed that he had never smoked or lived with anyone who had smoked. In answers to interrogatories he stated that he was married only once and had one daughter. During trial preparation, we discovered that, in fact, he had also been married to another woman with whom he had 2 children. This undisclosed first wife, whom he had not properly divorced, and with whom he had lived for more than a decade, was a lifelong 2- 3 pack a day smoker. When it came time to cross examine the plaintiff, and against the advice of the co-defendants who were concerned that if we impeached with evidence yet unknown to the Plaintiff or his attorneys it might anger the jury and cause them to award damages, he was asked to tell the jury who the woman was (using the name listed as the wife on the marriage certificate.) He answered that he had lived with her for a few months. Behold, the proverbial open door!  The marriage license was then shown to him and admitted into evidence. The verdict? A unanimous defense verdict. The jury commented in later interviews that they could not believe the plaintiff as to any part of the case if he were willing to lie about and hide his prior family from them.

An Oldie But A Favorite. Represented the Chicago Bulls (during the hey-day of the Michael Jordan era) in a copyright infringement action brought by the studio that created an animation that ran at the beginning of every home game, called, "The Running of the Bulls". This animation featured a herd of bulls running through the streets of Chicago, past well-known buildings and monuments, and finally entering the United Center where the Bulls played. In addition to the Bulls, several other companies were sued, including WGN-TV (who broadcast the animation when it broadcast the games), Warner Bros. (who used about 6 seconds of the animation when filming the "Space Jam" movie with Michael Jordan), Miller Brewing Company (a sponsor of the Bulls who, with the Bulls' permission, used less than 2 seconds of the animation in a commercial), and others. All defendants tendered the defense to the Bulls. The plaintiffs, represented by New York lawyers straight out of Central Casting, filed the case in the Southern District of New York seeking "millions" of dollars. Our tactic -- successfully transfer the case to Chicago; move to bifurcate discovery -- so only liability would be an issue initially; offer up a few of our key witnesses for depositions early on, and quickly produce the numerous glowing emails the plaintiffs had sent to the Bulls over the years praising the widespread (and now allegedly infringing) use of the animation; then move for summary judgment on multiple levels including the de minimus nature of much of the use, statute of limitations issues, waiver and others. We presented the alleged infringing uses on a compilation videotape that was provided to the judge. Before the judge ruled on the motion, the plaintiffs made a settlement demand that was so low, we could not refuse. We can’t say how low, but think taxi fare to the meeting.