Representative Cases

We were retained as replacement counsel to take over the representation of a plaintiff in a major commercial suit, involving alleged fraud, contract and tortious interference claims and seeking payment of outstanding notes that represented a significant portion of funds due from the prior acquisition of the plaintiff’s company. We obtained highly favorable rulings from the Court and obtained voluntary payment for our client.

Following a four-day jury trial in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, we obtained a defense verdict in favor of our client, a prominent class action law firm, on fraud claims.

We defended an executive in an export fraud investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. After a multi-year investigation, no criminal charges were brought against our client.

We represented the plaintiff corporation in a product liability action, based primarily upon alleged fraudulent misrepresentation and warranty claims, asserting substantial damages related to allegedly faulty material produced by the defendant. That material was ultimately incorporated into our client’s product, which was subsequently recalled. We were able to survive multiple attempts by the defendant to have the case dismissed, including surviving summary judgment motions that focused on numerous complex product liability legal issues. The case proceeded to trial and, after we had rested the plaintiff’s case, the matter was amicably resolved.

A former salesman brought a breach of contract suit alleging six-figure damages against our client, an industrial company. The case centered around alleged commissions that the employee claimed were owed to him related to an approximately $2 million transaction. Representing the defendant company, we argued that no commissions were due and the employee was not entitled to any damages. The case was tried to a jury in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in a trial lasting approximately one week. The jury returned a complete defense verdict finding that no breach of contract had occurred.

In a matter in which we were retained after default judgments had been entered against a bankrupt component parts manufacturer, we commenced an ancillary action in the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Alabama, for a declaration of non-liability as to our client, the alleged guarantor or insurer of the obligations of the defaulting party. The defendants removed the case to federal court. We obtained a remand to the state court system, successfully making the innovative argument that a bankrupt party is not a “nominal party” for purposes of diversity jurisdiction. The remand ultimately contributed to a successful resolution for our client.

In a major aviation products liability case, we obtained summary judgment in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County for our clients on claims by an upstream component manufacturer.

In a case of first impression under Pennsylvania environmental law, we obtained dismissal of a complaint filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, against a purported generator of hazardous waste on the basis that the state Department of Environmental Protection failed to first pursue the owners and operators of the landfill. Subsequently, the plaintiff filed the action in federal court under federal environmental laws, where we again successfully obtained dismissal.

In June 2007, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held, pursuant to our petition, that our television station client had a right of access to an audiotape played as evidence at a criminal preliminary hearing (as opposed to a trial) even where the ultimate admissibility of the audiotape at trial was in question.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama granted our motion for summary judgment in favor of our client, a high-profile engineering company, in a Title VII case brought by an engineer and manager who alleged race and sex discrimination in a promotion decision.

We obtained summary judgment in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County on behalf of a television station that had been sued for defamation by a judge in regard to a series of investigative stories involving him. The summary judgment was upheld on the plaintiff’s appeal to the Pennsylvania Superior Court and Supreme Court.

We obtained reversal by the Pennsylvania Superior Court of a decision of the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas that had barred access to a photograph presented to the jury in a well-publicized criminal matter.

We obtained an order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit granting access to sealed motions and government reports.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held, in a matter of first impression, that our television station client had a First Amendment right of access to obtain the names of both trial jurors and prospective jurors prior to the commencement of a criminal trial.

We obtained a defense verdict in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of our client, the manufacturer of the engine in a used aircraft purchased by the plaintiff.

We obtained dismissal of an action against an aviation services company in the Superior Court for Clark County, Washington, alleging breach of contract and negligence against our client.

In a multimillion dollar ERISA lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, we obtained dismissal of all claims, in a purported class action against our client hospitals in Ohio and West Virginia.