Business

Plaintiffs purchased their first home from an elderly couple who'd owned the home for decades. In the late 1990's, during the elderly couple's ownership, a portion of an old retaining wall in the backyard collapsed, but was never rebuilt. The area around the collapsed section then became overgrown with weeds, obscuring the remains of the collapsed wall. Over time, the remaining section of the retaining wall began to lean. At the time of the sale to the Plaintiffs, the only mention of the retaining wall was in a property inspection report, which recommended the leaning section of the wall should be looked at by an engineer. Plaintiffs elected not to engage the engineer. There was no mention of the collapsed wall or any soil movement in any of the seller's disclosure statements. Not long after the home was purchased by the Plaintiffs, the remaining section of wall collapsed causing considerable property damage. Plaintiffs sued the prior owners for failing to disclose anything having to do with soil subsidence issues or the partially collapsed wall. The case was eventually resolved after a lengthy mediation process.

A commercial glazer sued the owners and operators of a large public venue after the venue operator refused to pay the glazer for work that fell outside and beyond the scope of the contract. The operator of the venue defended on the grounds it was a quasi-governmental entity subject to the Government Tort Claims Act, and since the claim was not made within one-year of the alleged breach, the claims against it were time-barred. The glazer alleged the additional work was performed based upon the oral approval of the operator's job superintendent, thus under principles of promissory estoppel, the operator owed the glazer for the additional work. The claim was successfully resolved at mediation.

Plaintiff, a commercial manufacturer of food packaging materials, filed suit against a warehousing company after its products were damaged by an insect infestation discovered in the pallets on which the goods were stored while in the warehouse's custody. The defendant warehouser filed a cross-complaint for indemnity against the pallet manufacturer. The parties disputed the proximate cause of the infestation. Following a lengthy mediation process, the matter was successfully resolved through settlement.

During the course of selling the ownership interest in a small closely held corporation, disputes arose concerning the stock purchase agreement, payment of consideration, and the transfer of assets. Seller also asserted the former owner/shareholder embezzled money after the transfer of shares/ownership. Buyer also alleged that Seller violated trademark infringement laws. All claims successfully settled.

Mediated litigated dispute between buyer and seller of retail market. Defendants principally financed the purchase of the market through an SBA loan, however plaintiff claimed the defendants failed to perform under a separate, unsecured interest free promissory note. The defendant/buyers asserted that the promissory note was never fully executed, and that the SBA loan covered the amount of the unsecured promissory note.

Mediated complex misappropriation of trade secrets and trade name infringement matter involving former employees who opened a business competing with former employer, allegedly using misappropriated client lists and pricing schedules. Former employees denied the allegations, and alleged employer was liable for wage and hour violations/penalties.