Experience
Geneva Hager v. Large National Insurance Company
Our firm defended a large national insurance company on claims that it violated the Kentucky Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act in implementing claim handling processes for casualty claims involving soft tissue injuries arising from minor impact automobile accidents which the plaintiff contended were improper. Class certification was denied, and thereafter the insurance company won a defense verdict in a highly publicized trial of the bad faith claim of the individual plaintiff who had sought $1.45 billion in damages.
Granted class action certification and achieved settlement
Recently litigated separately filed Securities and ERISA class actions filed on behalf of employee shareholders, we were granted class action certification and achieved multi-million dollar settlement for our client. The company set an internal stock price which did not reflect the value of the stock when the Board of Directors knew the company was being positioned to be sold. When the company was sold for more than twice the stock price set by the Board, the employees who sold their stock during the pendency of the sale were not reimbursed the difference and sued to recover.
Hatfield v. Nalco Company
Plaintiff brought suit against his employer claiming deliberate intent and against our client, Nalco Company, after falling down a flight of stairs at the coal preparation plant where he worked. Plaintiff claimed that Nalco negligently manufactured polyacrylamide flocculant, which allegedly caused Plaintiff to fall when he stepped on the product which was on the floor of the plant.
Nalco did not believe that it was a proper defendant in the case and therefore filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. Following the filing of the Motion, Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed Nalco from the case and no money was paid to the Plaintiff from this Defendant.
Health Care
I have provided representation with respect to collection efforts for a large hospital pertaining to patient services for various state agencies such as regional jails and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services. Through the initiation of collection suits and negotiations, we have collected in excess of $500,000 of unpaid charges for a large state-wide hospital group.
Health Insurance Subrogation Litigation
Representation of health care insurers seeking enforcement of their contractual subrogation rights in tort litigation.
Host Communications, Inc. v. Sprint Communications, Inc.
Our firm represented Host Communications, Inc. in a declaratory judgment action as to whether Host was responsible to pay Sprint for certain telephone services supplied Host for various sites and facilities during the NCAA Tournament pursuant to the terms of Sprint's NCAA Corporate Partner Agreement, or whether the filed rate doctrine permitted Sprint to charge Host a rate higher than agreed upon by the parties. A favorable settlement was reached.
Hughes Miller, et al. v. Large Manufacturer of Electrical Power Systems, Products and Devices
Defense of client against product liability and breach of product warranty claim for burn injuries to electrician claiming product defect caused malfunction of electrical transformer during installation. Electrician suffered second and third degree burns on 60% of body. Plaintiff claimed damages well in excess of $1 million. Case settled for approximately $100k.
Industrial Contractor v. Various Subcontractor Defendants
Our client, an industrial contractor and supplier, sued the subcontractor for non-payment of $75,000. The case was settled before litigation was filed.
Insurance Coverage Dispute Involving Allegations of Bad Faith
We represented an insurance company in a suit for breach of insurance contract and bad faith arising out of the client’s decision not to pay death benefits under an occupational accident insurance policy. The case was removed to federal court and summary judgment was granted in favor of the insurance company.
Insurance Coverage Dispute Involving Allegations of Bad Faith, Breach of Contract
We represented an insurance company in a suit for breach of insurance contract and bad faith arising out of the client’s decision not to pay disability benefits under an occupational accident insurance policy. The case was removed to federal court and the matter was resolved at mediation.
Insurance Defense Litigation
Retained by insurance company to defend its insureds in a variety of personal injury and property damage cases pending in Ohio and Kentucky.
Jaguar Cars, Inc. v. Blackhorse Motors
Our firm represented Jaguar in a significant claim for breach of contract, RICO and fraud claims arising from a Jaguar dealer's conduct in submitting invalid warranty claims to the manufacturer. A favorable settlement was reached prior to trial.
Jaguar Cars, Inc. v. Kentucky Motor Vehicles Commission
Our firm represented Jaguar in a claim alleging that the Commission was biased in favor of dealers and against manufacturers which prevented Jaguar from receiving a due process hearing before the Commission on its application to terminate the franchise of a Jaguar dealer. Jaguar prevailed, and this decision was affirmed on appeal in a published decision (Jaguar v. Cottrell, 1999 WL 34749489), with Jaguar also subsequently receiving an award of attorneys fees.
James A. Thompson and T.R. Technologies Ky, Inc. v. Edward L. Underwood, Crescent Capital Investments, Inc., et al.
In this matter, the former owner of T.R. Technologies brought a claim for breach of contract, among other claims, stemming from his sale of a majority interest in his company to the defendants. The plaintiff was retained on a consulting basis to advise on the business. The defendants later determined that certain wrongdoings had occurred and terminated the plaintiff from his consulting position. The plaintiff sued for breach of contract. We represented the defendants and filed counterclaims against the plaintiff for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and negligent misrepresentation. The parties were seeking over $10,000,000 in damages. The case was settled.
James H. Huff, et al. v. Real Living, Inc., Case No. A0908858, Court of Common Pleas, Hamilton County, Ohio
Breach of contract from the collapse in 2005 of the 2002 merger of Huff Realty and HER Realtors, which formed Real Living. Under the terms of the 2005 dissolution, Real Living paid Huff's owners $4 million for their share of the merged company. They were to pay an additional $4.5 million by Jan. 1, 2007. After a hearing, the judge agreed that Huff is entitled to payment, which is now $5.8 million and building by $1,110 a day with interest. The ruling was issued April 1, 2010 by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin.
Jeff Mason v. Southern States Cooperative, Inc.
Our firm defended Southern States in a putative statewide class action of customers of agricultural goods on credit for violation of Kentucky's usury statute, ultimately obtaining a dismissal of all claims.
Jeffrey Williams v. American Suzuki Motor Corporation
The Plaintiff had asserted a claim against American Suzuki Motor Corporation under Ohio's Lemon Law, breach of warranty, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act. Following the completion of a jury trial, the jury returned defense verdicts in favor of American Suzuki Motor Corporation on all but one of the claims asserted, and the remaining claim resulted in an award of nominal damages.
Jeran v. Nalco Company
Plaintiff brought suit for over $1 million against out client, Nalco Company. Plaintiff was invited to a golf scramble by a Nalco representative. During the course of the golf outing, Plaintiff consumed alcoholic beverages and at the end of the outing fell down a flight of steps, rendering him a quadriplegic. Plaintiff sued the sponsor of the outing, the country club where the outing was held and the Nalco sales representative.
Following the sale representative's deposition, Nalco filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. Thereafter, Plaintiff settled with Nalco for a nominal amount.
Jerome Byrd v. ProVest, LLC, et al., United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, Western DIvision (Case No. 1:09-cv-076)
Successfully defended ProVest in a putative class action against claims for violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA"). The district court granted ProVest's motion for summary judgment on all claims, (1) holding the plaintiffs' claims were time-barred, (2) ProVest is not subject to the FDCPA because it is not a "debt collector", and (3) even if ProVest was subject to the FDCPA, the posted notice did not violate the FDCPA. The district court's decision granting ProVest's motion for summary judgment is available at 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20636.
John Deere Credit Co. v. Towe
Successfully defended numerous commercial and fraud-based claims seeking in excess of $9 million against John Deere. Obtained pre-trial dismissal of claims accounting for over 99% of the damages sought and then settled the remainder of the action favorably for the client.
Kelley v. Fedde - KY Child Custody
There was an appeal of a motion to modify child custody. The trial court granted a change in child custody without allowing an oral hearing on the motion. The Court of Appeals ruled that our client was entitled to an oral hearing before any ruling on modifying child custody was allowed.
Kentuckiana Cellular, Inc. v. Bluegrass Cellular, Inc.
Dinsmore & Shohl represented the Defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff, Bluegrass Cellular, in a matter involving claims of breach of contract and fraud. By working closely with the client we came to understand the subtleties of the relevant business relationships. This understanding allowed us to successfully defend a claim against our client and to then win a substantial verdict on our counterclaim. Kentuckiana's claim was dismissed on directed verdict and a jury awarded our client $1 million.
Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance Co. v. Coleman
Obtained a writ of prohibition from the Kentucky Supreme Court who in a published opinion directed the trial court to dismiss a bad faith action against a workers compensation insurance carrier and ruled that all such claims are subject to the exclusive remedy provision of the workers compensation statute. (Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance Company v. Coleman, 236 S.W.3d 9 (Ky. 2007).
Knott, et al. v. Boone - Breach of Fiduciary Duties
Represented horse syndicate members in breach of fiduciary duties dispute regarding syndicate manager’s accountings. Court of Appeals ruled that syndicate manager could not rely on the instructions of one partner to apply partnership assets to a non-partnership debt.
Knott, et al. v. Boone - Breach of Fiduciary Duties / Fees
Represented horse syndicate members in breach of fiduciary duties dispute with syndicate manager. The syndicate manager charged late fees on the member's account that exceeded Kentucky usury law. The late fees were removed as in violation of usury laws and the Court of Appeals further determined that the syndicate manager owed a fiduciary duty to keep accurate accounts.
L.F.P. IP, LLC, et al. v. Hustler Cincinnati, Inc., et al.
Representing Larry Flynt and associated corporations organized under the trade name Hustler in breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, unjust enrichment and related allegations stemming from an effort by Plaintiff to dissolve existing relationships in the form of a partnership and joint ventures. We proved no joint venture and obtained an injunction precluding plaintiff from using Hustler trademark.
Large National Coal Company v. Power Producer
Our firm represented the Plaintiff in this lawsuit, a large national coal company, for bad faith breach of a long term requirements contract which resulted in significant reductions in the tonnages of coal purchased from our client. A favorable settlement was reached while the case was pending in arbitration.
Lawn Mower Manufacturer
The plaintiff was injured when he operated his zero-turn mower up a hill resulting in a front-end rollover. The plaintiff alleged that the mower was defective because it did not have a rollover protection system. After extensive discovery, we successfully negotiated a settlement for our client shortly before trial.
Lender Liability in a Commercial Foreclosure
A routine commercial foreclosure resulted in lender liability claims against the bank. Representing the bank, the case was settled on terms favorable to our client.
Levin M&A Consulting v. TCA Fulfillment Services, Inc.
This case was tried before Judge Nugent in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio. We successfully defended a claim of approximately $750,000 in commissions from the sale of a business in New York. After a four-day jury trial, the jury was out less than two hours before returning a complete defense verdict.
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