Commercial Litigation/Directors & Officers

Jill Dunn, assisted by appellate attorney Michael Freed, prevailed at trial of a shareholder derivative action in the Cobb County Superior Court. A shareholder and former employee asserted claims in a derivative action for the purported benefit of a corporation against FMG’s client and two individuals. Among other claims, Plaintiff asserted civil RICO claims and sought treble damages. Following the close of Plaintiff’s case after two and a half days of trial, the court entered a directed verdict in favor of FMG’s client and the two individuals. Following trial, the court granted a motion for attorneys’ fees, awarding FMG’s client the full amount of fees it sought against Plaintiff and his counsel.

Chris Donnelly and Paul Piantino secured injunctive relief in federal court in New Jersey on behalf of a large commercial client, converting a temporary restraining order into a one-year preliminary injunction against our client’s former subcontractor. Our client, along with the now enjoined subcontractor, previously performed IT work for the United States Department of Agriculture. Unbeknownst to our client at the time, the subcontractor also began working with our client’s direct competitor to solicit business from the USDA. Mr. Donnelly and Mr. Piantino alleged that this solicitation was a breach of the agreement between our client and its subcontractor. After presenting their case, the District Court found: (1) that Mr. Donnelly and Mr. Piantino demonstrated reasonable success on the merits of various breach of contract claims arising out of the subcontractor’s solicitation of the USDA; (2) the record demonstrated they were reasonably likely to establish damages resulting from the breach; (3) they had demonstrated irreparable harm and that any harm to the defendant subcontractor was self-inflicted; (4) and that the public interest was served by enforcing the restrictive covenant.