Los Angeles Deputy Managing Partner Craig Holden, San Diego Partner Gary Brucker and Associate Christy Goudamanis recently secured a $40 million verdict on behalf of Lewis Brisbois' clients – the owners and sellers of a southern California farming operation – in complex litigation arising from the sale process.
The team's farm owner clients supplied Asian vegetables to upscale grocery stores and restaurants. They 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.
The litigation involved an incredibly complicated commercial dispute including international tax structures, offshore accounts, M&A documents, and multiple shell companies. The Lewis Brisbois team inherited the case from the plaintiffs' former counsel only six months prior to trial. The team was able to secure the dismissal of trademark infringement and cybersquatting claims on summary judgment before the trial commenced.
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.