Dowd Bennett » Trial Practice

Dowd Bennett Secures Plaintiff’s Verdict for Premcor Refining Group

admin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:17:47 +0000

On February 14, 2011, a Cook County jury returned a unanimous verdict for Dowd Bennett client Premcor Refining Group, a subsidiary of Valero Energy. In the week-long trial in Chicago, Dowd Bennett lawyers Erika Anderson and Jim Bennett persuaded a jury that trucking company KLLM Transport was responsible for damage to a Premcor pipeline in Calumet City, Illinois.

Dowd Bennett Obtains $7,626,744 Verdict for Monsanto Company

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:33:45 +0000

Dowd Bennett recently represented Monsanto Company at trial in the matter of Monsanto Company v. ConocoPhillips Company, 08SL-CC 02002. The matter involved the breach of a supply agreement and was tried for nine days in St. Louis County Circuit Court. On June 28, 2010, following an hour and a half of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Monsanto Company in the amount of $7, 626, 744, which is exactly the amount that Monsanto Company was seeking in damages. The Dowd Bennett trial team was comprised of Jim Bennett, Gabe Gore, Jen Kingston and Nancy Carson, but as always at Dowd Bennett, it was a total firm effort. We are very pleased to have been able to obtain this great result for our valued client.

View the Verdict Form:

Monsanto Verdict Form (PDF)

View Related News:

July 11, 2010 Monsanto wins verdict against ConocoPhillips
July 4, 2010 Monsanto gets $7.6 million verdict against Conoco

Dowd Bennett LLP Prevails in Federal Jury Trial

admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:36:14 +0000

On April 7, 2010, Dowd Bennett lawyers Jim Bennett, Erika Anderson, and Jennifer Aspinall obtained a jury verdict for their client in a case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The case was tried in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and involved allegations of age discrimination based on the termination of a 67-year-old employee who had been employed for 10 years. The jury returned its unanimous defense verdict less than 30 minutes after it started deliberations.

View the Jury Verdict and Instruction and Judgment on Verdict:

April 7, 2010 Jury Verdict and Instruction (PDF)
April 7, 2010 Judgment on Verdict (PDF)

View Related News:

April 18, 2010 Dowd Bennett Obtains Defense Verdict for National Retailer Client

United States ex rel. Gonzalez v. Fresenius Medical Care North America et al.

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:16:10 +0000

On February 25, 2010, a unanimous jury in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas returned a verdict in favor of Dowd Bennett client Fresenius Medical Care. The case was brought by a private qui tam relator under the False Claims Act.

The trial in El Paso, Texas started on January 25, 2010. Dowd Bennett attorneys Jim Bennett, Megan Heinsz and Jennifer Aspinall worked on the case with a team of attorneys and handled, among other items, jury selection, opening statement, examination of multiple witnesses, and closing argument. The trial was reported to be the longest civil case tried to verdict in that district in the past decade. The jury returned its verdict less than 45 minutes after it started deliberations. Post trial motions are expected to be filed.

View Verdict Form:

February 25, 2010 Verdict Form U.S. ex rel. Gonzalez v. FMC et al. (PDF)

View related News:

February 25, 2010 Dowd Bennett Obtains Defense Verdict for Fresenius Medical Care

Herschel, et al. v. Nixon, et al.

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:11:02 +0000

In June of 2009, John Comerford successfully sued the Governor of the State of Missouri to prevent the termination of three Administrative Law Judges in the Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation. A temporary restraining order was obtained to block the termination of the judges, and we eventually obtained a permanent injunction against their removal after a trial.

View Circuit Court Judgment, Opinion, and Permanent Injunction:

September 9, 2009 Circuit Court Judgment and Permanent Injunction (PDF)

View related news:

April 11, 2010 Missouri Court of Appeals Hears Oral Argument in Case of Fired ALJs
September 14, 2009 Fired ALJs Can Keep their Jobs, Cole County Judge Says
August 26, 2009 Cole County Judge Set to Rule on Firings of Administrative Law Judges
July 9, 2009 Cole County Circuit Judge Says ALJs to Stay on the Job until Trial
June 29, 2009 Cole County Judge Halts ALJ Firings for 15 Days
June 26, 2009 Cole County Judge Considers Keeping ALJs in their Jobs
June 24, 2009 Lawsuit Against Missouri Governor’s Administration Alleges ALJ Cuts were Illegal

Olson v. Halvorsen et al.

admin — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:42:10 +0000

In November and December of 2008, Jim Bennett and John Comerford successfully represented Viking Global Investors LP, a hedge fund based in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, in a trial before Vice Chancellor Stephen P. Lamb in the Delaware Court of Chancery. Our attorneys worked in concert with another firm in representing the hedge fund and two of its founding members in a suit brought by a former founding member. The case raised issues of first impression under Delaware law regarding partnerships and limited liability companies. The case also involved the disputed calculation of the “fair value” of the departed member’s share of the ongoing enterprise under Delaware law. The Court of Chancery ruled in favor of our clients in May 2009, and the Delaware Supreme affirmed the judgment in favor of our clients in December 2009.

View Judgment of the Delaware Chancery Court and Opinion of the Delaware Supreme Court:

May 13, 2009 Memorandum Opinion of the Delaware Chancery Court (PDF)
December 15, 2009 Delaware Supreme Court Affirming Chancery Court Judgment (PDF)

Cunningham v. Anna State Bank

admin — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:11:05 +0000

Robert Epperson and Jim Bennett represented the largest non-insider shareholder of a bank holding company in a dispute regarding access to corporate books and records. The case was tried to conclusion in the equity court of Union County, Illinois, during January of 2008. The case presented several issues regarding the reach of the corporate law of Delaware (the state of incorporation of the bank holding company) and Illinois (the state that chartered the subsidiary bank) and involved a long-running embezzlement by a bank employee that resulted in a guilty plea and order of restitution. At trial, both expert and fact witnesses testified and the court ruled for our client on all material points.

Bi-State Development Agency v. STV Engineering et al.

admin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:20:42 +0000

In 2007, firm lawyers Jim Bennett, Ed Dowd, Megan Heinsz, and Erika Anderson represented STV Engineering in the longest trial in the history of St. Louis County Circuit Court. The case was filed by the St. Louis public transit authority and sought more than $100 million from the engineering firms who designed the latest Metrolink light rail extension. After 15 weeks of trial, the jury ruled for our client on all nine counts, rejecting claims of breach of contract, negligence and fraud. In addition, the jury awarded our client and its partners $2.56 million in unpaid invoices that the agency refused to pay after it terminated our client from the project. The verdict was returned on November 30, 2007. The case settled on appeal with the plaintiff agreeing to pay the judgment and attorneys fees.

View related news:

January 23, 2008 Metro in Missouri to Pay $6M, Instead of $27M, in Attorneys’ Fees
January 23, 2008 Metro to Pay Firms $6 Million
December 15, 2007 Winners in MetroLink Suit Seek $27 Million in Legal Fees
December 8, 2007 Transit Agency’s Top Lawyer Resigns
December 1. 2007 Jury Orders Transit Agency to Pay the Firms it Sued
November 27, 2007 Jury gets MetroLink Extension Suit
November 27, 2007 MetroLink Jurors Begin Deliberations in Shrewsbury Project Case
August 30, 2007 Code Red
August 28, 2007 Metro Chief Takes Stand

Vinson v. Vinson

admin — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:16:06 +0000

Our lawyers tried a multi-week dissolution case between the founders of a mortgage banking company that, in 2004, generated more that $3 billion in mortgages. The primary issues at trial were whether our client held an interest in the company and, if so, the value of that interest. After trial, the court declared that our client did hold an ownership interest in the company and adopted our approach to valuation.

View Published Opinion of the Missouri Court of Appeals:

November 13, 2007 Missouri Court of Appeals Published Opinion 243 S.W.3d 418 (PDF)

View related news:

November 15, 2007 New Courtship
November 14, 2007 Missouri COA, Eastern District Judges Affirm — and Criticize — Vinson Divorce

Synergetics, Inc. v. Hurst et al.

admin — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 22:13:38 +0000

In June of 2007, our lawyers conducted a four-day bench trial over a motion to set aside a multi-million judgment and for sanctions. The motion was based on alleged witness tampering that occurred in the prior trial. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri ordered the plaintiff to pay our client $1.17 million as a sanction for improper conduct in the prior trial.

View the District Court’s Memorandum and Order Granting Sanctions and the Satisfaction of Judgment:

October 21, 2007 Order Granting Sanctions (PDF)
January 15, 2008 Satisfaction of $1,172,776.66 Judgment (PDF)