Vogt, Resnick & Sherak, LLP Prevails on Ninth Circuit Appeal
Vogt, Resnick & Sherak, LLP (“VRS”) recently secured a major win for its client before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Last year, Partner Adam Greely and his team obtained a verdict in favor of VRS’ manufacturing client in the Federal Court in Los Angeles. The client’s distributor, who had defaulted on payments for a number of orders, filed a “pre-emptive” lawsuit in Michigan State Court against VRS’ client, claiming it violated an exclusive distribution agreement by selling products to other distributors and customers. The distributor sought millions of dollars in alleged damages for lost profits on past and future sales. The distributor also claimed that the client’s products were defective and that the client failed to support the products, which harmed the distributor’s reputation and led to its complete financial ruin.
In response to the lawsuit, VRS worked with Michigan counsel to have the case removed to Federal Court in Michigan and then transferred to Federal Court in Los Angeles, where the client is located. VRS counter-sued on behalf of its client for collection of the unpaid invoices. Before trial, the parties engaged in mediation. In the mediation, the distributor continued to demand millions in damages, and the case did not settle.
Following a one-week bench trial, the Court awarded VRS’ client $477,000 and denied all claims of the distributor, except for a single admittedly unauthorized sale in the sum of less than $14,000.
The distributor filed an appeal on five separate grounds. Following appeal briefing and oral argument by Adam Greely, the Court of Appeal affirmed the verdict in its entirety in favor of VRS’ client.