Category Archives: Bet-the-Company Litigation

Spillane and Co-Counsel Win 11-1 Defense Verdict in $14 Million Elder Abuse Case

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Jay Spillane, representing Intervenor Plaintiff Tommie Howard, together with Robert Levinson and Helen Kim Colindres, representing Defendant Meighan Howard, won a defense verdict on an 11-1 vote after a five-week elder abuse jury trial.

Dr. John Howard, represented by Keller Anderle, sued Meighan Howard, his daughter, claiming that a 2012 amended estate plan, which disinherited Meighan Howard’s brother and made valuable irrevocable gifts to Meighan, was procured through elder abuse, breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud.  Dr. Howard pointed to evidence that Meighan Howard primarily communicated with estate counsel, exerted a high degree of management over her parents’ affairs and was the beneficiary of highly valuable gifts.  read more

Spillane Wins $3 Million Arbitration Award for Investment Bankers

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Spillane Law Group represented Claimants Kenneth Kilroy, Ross Kilroy and M&A Securities Group, Inc. in an arbitration against Respondent Adrienne Smith Worley, JAMS No. 1210033774, concerning an unpaid $3 million investment banking fee from the purchase and sale of Ms. Smith Worley’s shares in Young’s Market.  On August 28, 2018 the Arbitrator rendered a Final Award in favor of Spillane’s clients for the full sum requested.

Ms. Smith Worley was the heir, through her mother Janet Smith, of significant shares in Young’s Market, a venerable closely held company currently focused on distribution of spirits.  Upon her mother’s passing there was an appraisal of Ms. read more

You Just Lost The Trial, or Did You? Motions During and After Trial Can Reverse a Bad Result

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I have tried numerous business cases with a fine record of success.  Trials are, however, an uncertain process, and if one tries enough cases, the most skilled trial lawyer will eventually lose a jury verdict.

When a trial lawyer hears an adverse verdict in court, should s/he walk away, shoulders slumped, counting for vindication on the power of an appellate brief due many months hence?  No.  A trial lawyer’s efforts to reverse an adverse jury verdict begins while the jury is still standing in the jury box.

The first question one must ask, seconds after hearing an adverse verdict, is whether the verdict is ambiguous or contradictory.  read more

Rights of Publicity Often Collide with First Amendment

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In law school we all learned about the “four privacy rights” in first year torts class: (1) intrusion into plaintiff’s private affairs; (2) public disclosure of embarrassing private facts; (3) publicity that places plaintiff in a false light; and (4) appropriation of the plaintiff’s name or likeness.

The reason that these are called rights of “privacy” is that they all serve the value of being left alone in a society where technology multiplies the risk of intrusion into our solitude and dignity.

The fourth right, appropriation of name or likeness, alone among the four privacy rights has taken on a twin character.  read more

Spillane Trial Group Wins Retrial in Royalty Action for Estate of Late Sly Stone Manager

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Spillane Trial Group won a July 25, 2016 Court of Appeal opinion in favor of the estate of the late Ken Roberts, former manager for Sly Stone.  The appellate court ordered retrial of Roberts’ breach of contract action against BMI for paying royalties assigned to Roberts to the wrong party.  https://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/B263923.PDF

Ken Roberts organized tours for Sly and the Family Stone from 1970 to 1973.  Roberts advanced considerable money to Sly.  Sly asked Roberts to return as his manager in 1976.  To repay Roberts for the money advanced, Sly executed a 1976 assignment of his performance royalties, administered by BMI, to Roberts.  read more

Legal Troubles Overhang Presidential Election

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This presidential election cycle is groundbreaking in so many different respects.  The one respect that intersects my world is the degree to which each presumptive nominee’s campaign is dogged by ongoing legal battles.

Hillary Clinton has been beset for months by criticism over her exclusive use of a personal email server to conduct State Department business, when according to State Department policy she should have used a government email address and government server.  The problem was not merely technical, because when she left the State Department she did not turn over her emails to the government.  Thus, when the emails were sought by subpoena in connection with the Benghazi affair, the process of reviewing and turning over responsive emails was in the hands of Clinton staff rather than the government.  read more

Gawker Verdict Reinvigorates Power of Privacy Claims

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I’m old enough to remember the days when “the news” consisted of thirty minutes on one of three major television networks.  In those days there were high barriers to entry into the world of television or print media, leaving the news in the hands of major entities that, I believe, tried to apply sincere journalistic standards.  We had a relatively high level of comfort that what was delivered to us as “news” was: a) relatively important; b) relatively objective and c) relatively accurate.

With the advent of cable television and the Internet, “news” is now ubiquitous, available 24/7 through an unlimited number of sources.  read more

Music copyright cases illustrate the potential for confusion in business trials

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I have high regard for my personal injury and employment trial colleagues.  However, in one respect I believe their jobs are easier than that of the business trial lawyer.  In a case involving injury or, say, employment discrimination, I think the issues and values at stake are clear and within the juries’ general knowledge.  Did the defendant act negligently and thus injure another?  Was the plaintiff fired for reasons legitimate or unlawful discriminatory reasons?  It may be hard for juries to get far off track when these are the questions to decide.

This is not always the case in business trials.  read more

Jury Pools and This Crazy Election

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I try business cases for a living.  A trial is, boiled down to its essence, a chance to tell your client’s story, in a relatively short period of time, to a captive audience that for the most part has no legal training.  The story you tell is usually backed up by a limited number of exhibits and graphics that hopefully underscore your theme.  Except if you get a legal professional or two on the jury, the jury’s entire legal training consists of twenty minutes at the end where the judge reads jury instructions in a boring monotone.  I spent three years in law school and almost thirty years in practice figuring out how to apply facts to legal standards.  read more

Contracts can Limit Ability to Use Otherwise Freely Available Facts or Ideas

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Here in Tinsel Town, I regularly read about lawsuits where the plaintiff claims that his or her screenplay was revealed to someone who turned it into a hit film or show without consent or payment.  Just as regularly, I read that the case ended in judgment for the defense, as the judge granted a motion finding insufficient similarity between the plaintiff’s writing and the film or show.

These rulings are often grounded in a distinction in the law that copyright only protects original expressions but not ideas.  In other words, one cannot copyright the general idea of a mild-mannered person who doubles as a superhero with prodigious powers, but copyright law will protect the writings and images in “Superman” comics and stories.  read more