Commercial Litigation
We have represented plaintiffs and defendants in commercial disputes involving billions of dollars of damages.- Winstar Cases
(Fed. Cl.)We represent a large number of financial institutions and related investors in cases that flow from the landmark 1996 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Winstar Corp., a case argued by Mr. Cooper, in which the Court held that the federal government was liable for damages for the injuries caused by Congress' decision to change the accounting rules that had induced healthy financial institutions and investors to take over failing thrifts in the 1980s. These cases involve billions of dollars in potential liability, and the Winstar decision carries far-reaching implications for the government's responsibility to honor its business contracts regardless of subsequent changes in policy or law. Among the financial institutions and other companies represented by the firm in these cases are Bank of America, TCF Bank, Coast Federal Savings Bank, the Ford Motor Company, and AmBase Corporation. We have represented our "Winstar" clients in trial proceedings before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and appellate proceedings before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court. To date, our clients have been awarded damages of and settled claims for more than $200 million.
- State of Alabama v. Exxon
No. 1001053, 1031167(Al. Sup. Ct.)We represent the State of Alabama in connection with its suit against Exxon for fraud in connection with the extraction of natural gas from Mobile Bay. Exxon was obligated to make royalty payments on the "gross proceeds" of all gas produced under the leases, but instead concealed its practice of paying royalties solely on the net proceeds of a portion of the gas produced. A jury has awarded more than $3 billion of compensatory and punitive damages. The case is now pending on appeal before the Alabama Supreme Court.
- Ford Motor Company v. United States
286 F.3d 1335 (Fed. Cir. 2002)We successfully represented Ford Motor Company in connection with its challenge to the United States Customs Service's determination that $10 million in import duties and interest were properly assessed. The Federal Circuit held that the trial court's verdict was clearly erroneous and that Ford was entitled to judgment.
- Ford Motor Company v. United States
No. 03-5092 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 3, 2004)We successfully represented Ford Motor Company in a breach of contract suit against the United States arising from a World War II contract for the manufacture of B-24 Liberation Bombers. Ford seeks to recover the environmental cleanup costs it has incurred in connection with Ford's performance of the cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contract. The Federal Circuit reversed the trial court and ruled in Ford's favor.
- Marketing and Management Information, Inc. v. United States
57 Fed. Cl. 665 (2003)We successfully represented EmpowerIT (formerly known as Marketing and Management Information, Inc. ("MMI")), in a breach of contract action against the United States in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The lawsuit stemmed from the decision of the Defense Commissary Agency ("DeCA") (an agency within the Department of Defense) to terminate a sale/exchange contract between MMI and DeCA, pursuant to which DeCA agreed to provide MMI with raw "scanner data" pertaining to sales at commissaries and MMI agreed to process that data and to perform certain category management support services for DeCA. The trial court granted our summary judgment motion on liability. After extensive discovery, the government agreed to settle the case on the eve of trial.
- Shell v. United States
No. 05-704C (Fed. Cl.)We represent Shell, Unocal, Atlantic Richfield Co., and Chevron-Texaco in a major contract dispute with the United States government. Our clients seek compensation for environmental remediation costs that they have incurred as a result of their performance of World War II contracts for the federal government. The case was recently transferred to the Court of Federal Claims.
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