Los Angeles Deputy Managing Partner Craig Holden recently spoke
with the Los Angeles & San Francisco Daily Journal
regarding a farm sale matter in which he and his team, composed of
San Diego Partner Gary Brucker and Associate Christy Goudamanis,
secured a $40 million verdict on behalf of Lewis Brisbois’
clients – the owners and sellers of a southern California
farming operation.
As the article titled, “Jury Awards More Than $40M in Farm
Sale Fraud Case After 4-Week Trial” explains, Mr. Holden and
his team represented the plaintiff farm owners who supplied Asian
vegetables to upscale grocery stores and restaurants. Mr. Holden
explained to the Daily Journal that the farm, based in
Thermal, was special as there is geothermal activity under the farm
that heats the soil. Mr. Holden explained that the land gave his
client a “competitive advantage” because the farm could
“harvest in the winter” and “charge premiums for
high-quality products.”
According to the article, after Mr. Holden’s client had a
heart attack, he considered retiring. Instead, however, upon the
counsel of his longtime financial and tax advisors, he sold the
farm assets and entered a complicated transaction with an
investment company. The farm ultimately sued the investment company
and other entities for fraud, elder abuse, and labor violations
related to the sale. Following deliberations at the end of the
four-week trial, the jurors found unanimously for the plaintiffs on
several claims and rejected all the defendants’ affirmative
claims. They also awarded the plaintiffs punitive damages in
addition to the economic, non-economic, and other awards.
The article notes that the litigation involved an incredibly complicated commercial dispute including international tax structures, offshore accounts, M&A documents, and multiple shell companies.
In discussing the challenges that he and his team faced during
the litigation, Mr. Holden pointed out that they inherited this
case from the plaintiffs’ former counsel only six months
prior to trial. “There were no fact witnesses or experts that
had been deposed or designated,” he explained, “So, we
had to do everything on a compressed schedule.” Prior to
trial, Mr. Holden’s team was able to dismiss trademark
infringement and cybersquatting claims.
Mr. Holden serves as national co-chair of both the Complex Business
& Intellectual Property practice. A seasoned first-chair trial
lawyer, he has successfully litigated high-stakes matters in state
and federal courts nationwide. In addition to his active trial
practice, Mr. Holden has served as lead counsel in numerous
international and domestic arbitrations.
Read the full Daily Journal article here.