Contract and Fraud Cases

CFH recently defended a leading Southern California retailer in a class action lawsuit. The Plaintiff sought to have a class-action certified against a leading Southern California retailer. CFH convinced the Court to require the Plaintiff to file its motion for class certification at an early stage in the case. The Court recently denied the class certification motion, dramatically reducing the case and eliminating class action exposure, not to mention saving the client from the significant cost and expense of defending a class-action.
We prosecuted fraud claims on behalf of subsidiaries of a large California-based utility company over the failed sale of a $1.2 billion liquefied natural gas power plant located in Puerto Rico. When the defendant filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas, the state court proceedings in California were stayed. However, CFH pursued the fraud claims in bankruptcy court both in Texas and New York and obtained a multi-million dollar settlement in favor of the client.
One of our partners represented husband and wife entrepreneurs in the prosecution of breach of contract and fraud claims arising from the sale of their automotive accessories business to a large conglomerate. The defendants also cross-complained against the clients, alleging, among other things, fraud in connection with the sale. Following a six-week bench trial, the clients prevailed on all claims and were awarded a $55 million judgment.
We successfully prosecuted fraud claims on behalf of a mid-sized Orange County company against a software manufacturer which had misrepresented the capabilities of a manufacturing software system. Our client obtained a $4.6 million jury verdict.
CFH was engaged by the client following trial in a case in which the jury had awarded a multi-million dollar fraud verdict against the client. We filed a motion for new trial, which the trial court granted, ordering a new trial on damages. On appeal, we successfully defended the trial court’s decision to reverse the damage award and the case then settled for approximately half of the damages originally awarded by the jury.
Prosecution of fraud and construction defect claims against one of the country’s largest general contractors, W.L. Butler. After W.L. Butler rejected an offer CFH’s client made to settle the case for $550,000, CFH started deposition discovery in the case. These efforts showed that W.L. Butler ignored warnings of the project superintendent about construction defects before construction was completed, which defects ultimately led to severe stucco cracking and staining on the entire stucco surface of two large commercial buildings. W.L. Butler refused to honor its warranty and fix the buildings because its insurance company failed to pay for the repairs. …At deposition, W.L. Butler’s own expert admitted that the only reason W.L. Butler did not complete the repair work was there was no one to pay for it. Mr. Fletcher’s client alleged that W.L. Butler’s standard business practice of relying on insurance companies and subcontractors to perform its warranty work constituted fraud because W.L. Butler had promised to perform all warranty work at its sole cost and expense.After percipient and expert witness discovery was completed, W.L. Butler agreed to make a $6.175 million settlement payment to Mr. Fletcher’s client. This settlement was recently reported in the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
CFH defended the Orange County Transportation Authority against contract claims asserted by a consulting firm over the termination of its supplier contract. After the firm filed motions to dismiss the case at the pleading stage, the plaintiff agreed to a voluntary dismissal with prejudice and a mutual release of all claims, with no additional consideration changing hands.
One of our partners defended an international provider of laser eye surgery in a breach of contract lawsuit brought by one of its business partners. With the client’s motion for summary judgment pending, the parties entered into a settlement that continued their highly profitable business relationship on favorable terms.
We defended the seller of a large landscaping supply business against breach of contract claims brought by the purchaser. The plaintiff claimed damages in excess of $10 million dollars. The case involved complex accounting issues and valuation matters. We worked closely with forensic accountants to perform an analysis of alleged damages. After expert witness depositions, we obtained a favorable settlement for the client.