Taft's client, Katie O'Donnell, prevailed in an eight-day civil jury trial in Maricopa County Superior Court in Arizona. In Russell Piccoli, PLC. v. Katie O'Donnell, Taft represented O'Donnell against claims of collusion, bad faith, breach of contract, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The nine-person jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of O'Donnell on all claims submitted.
The jury trial capped a decade of litigation between Piccoli and O'Donnell. In 2008, O'Donnell petitioned for divorce from Dr. Francis O'Donnell in St. Louis only to learn that the assets of the marriage had been secreted into 11 irrevocable Arizona trusts. Multi-state litigation ensued between the spouses in pursuit of trust assets valued at over $70 million. O'Donnell hired Piccoli in Arizona to represent her in a probate action initiated by the trustee to terminate her as a beneficiary. Piccoli took the probate matter on a hybrid contingency, i.e., a reduced hourly rate and 20% of the recovery from the trusts. Piccoli secured an order from the Arizona Probate Court declaring that certain trust assets were marital in nature. Out of funds, O'Donnell indicated she was willing to settle with her husband on compromised terms. Piccoli objected, withdrew as her counsel and sued to intervene. The husband withdrew the settlement offer at that time and refused to engage in meaningful settlement discussions involving trust assets again.
Taft partner Aaron P. Bradford was retained to represent O'Donnell and defeated Piccoli's motion to intervene. Piccoli then sued O'Donnell in arbitration claiming constructive discharge and seeking quantum meruit. Bradford prevailed in arbitration, securing an order finding that Piccoli had not been discharged by O'Donnell.
Simultaneously, Bradford prevailed over the husband's effort to set aside the Arizona Probate order on appeal, securing wins at the Arizona Court of Appeals and the Arizona Supreme Court.
In the most recent suit filed by Piccoli, O'Donnell was accused of colluding with her husband in the final divorce settlement reached in September 2021 for the purposes of cutting Piccoli out of his contingency fee. Piccoli asserted that O'Donnell acted in bad faith in structuring the final divorce settlement to deprive Piccoli of a fee arising from recovery of trust assets. At trial, the nine-person jury heard evidence regarding O'Donnell's 10-year campaign to secure trust assets, the husband's multi-state campaign to block that outcome, and the court's unwillingness to award trust assets short of a trial the client could not afford. In the end, the jury rejected Piccoli's claims of collusion, bad faith, and breach of contract.
Bradford was assisted by Phoenix associate Jake Tyler Rapp.
Bradford is a battle-tested trial attorney with a passion for serving companies and individuals around the globe in the areas of technology, health care, and hospitality. He is a compelling advocate, having stood before juries across this country trying cases in areas such as patent infringement, brand enforcement, trademark infringement, trade secrets, anticompetitive conduct, securities fraud, employment, professional negligence, premises liability, and breaches of contracts. Rapp assists clients on a range of complex litigation matters, including business disputes, dispute resolution, political law, and administrative law.