Complex Litigation
 
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Related Practices

Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider’s team of trial lawyers has extensive experience in federal and state trial and appellate courts throughout the country involving a wide range of complex business issues.  Our trial lawyers have successfully tried numerous jury and non-jury cases and have been entrusted with a variety of mission-critical matters of high strategic importance.

Trials

AVH attorneys try cases.  Our senior partners each have over thirty years of experience litigating and trying cases and are ranked in Chambers USA and Super Lawyers.  Beyond knowing an area of the law or an industry, trial lawyers know people.  Instinctively, they know how to relate to a jury and how to demonstrate a witness’s honesty or to expose a witness’s deceit.  Any business facing the prospect of trial will want to make sure that its chosen trial lawyer has extensive – and recent – trial experience.  The trial lawyers at AVH are highly sought after precisely because they are active, experienced trial lawyers.  

Class Actions

AVH attorneys have extensive experience with state and nationwide class actions.  AVH attorneys successfully defended a client in a two month jury trial in one of the very few class action cases ever to go to trial.  AVH was brought in to try the case after a class had been certified.  AVH attorneys have also been successful in defeating motions for class certification and obtaining favorable class action settlements for their clients.  AVH attorneys have handled class actions for clients ranging from insurance companies to cable television providers in cases involving claims ranging from breach of consumer protection statutes to breach of contract.

Commercial Litigation

The language of Business is Contracts.  AVH lawyers speak this language fluently.  It is through contracts – whether written or implied – that business entities make commitments to one another.  These contracts can involve the supply of an essential component or the sale of an entire business.  Many of these contracts can be extremely complex and can involve hundreds of millions of dollars.  When problems arise, AVH lawyers know how to help.  AVH lawyers know how to apply the principles of contract law to a dispute and how to translate complex issues for juries.

Business Torts

Beyond contracts, businesses are often confronted with a variety of business torts.   Whether they involve antitrust, unfair trade practices, product liability, breaches of covenants not to compete, corporate raiding, or violations of government regulation, AVH attorneys possess a depth and breadth of experience in handling matters involving business torts.

Fiduciary Duties of Officers and Directors  

Beyond looking outward, businesses are sometimes faced with internal issues involving the fiduciary duties of directors and officers.  AVH attorneys are skilled in addressing these issues and recently won a defense jury verdict rejecting multi-million dollar claims for breach of fiduciary duties by directors and officers and a multi-million dollar bench trial in favor of a bankruptcy trustee as a plaintiff, proving breach of fiduciary duties by directors and officers of a privately held corporation.

Arbitrations

In addition to being comfortable in courtrooms, AVH attorneys are also very familiar with arbitration.  AVH attorneys represent clients in domestic and international arbitrations and mediations before such alternative dispute resolution providers as the American Arbitration Association and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution.  Arbitrations handled by AVH involve claims ranging from diversion of international power projects to claims for breach of exclusivity provisions of a software licensing agreement.

Appeals

AVH attorneys have successfully represented clients in appeals throughout the country.  AVH attorneys have argued in state and federal appellate courts and have succeeded in winning both affirmances of decisions they support and reversals of decisions they oppose.  Recent appellate victories include decisions from the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First Circuit, the Second Circuit, the Third Circuit, the Seventh Circuit, and the Eleventh Circuit.

Recent Cases

AVH Represents The Hartford In Trial of Class Action

Artie’s Auto Body, Inc., et al. v. The Hartford Fire Insurance Company, (Conn. Super. Court, Complex Docket 2009):  This is one of the very few class action cases ever to have gone to trial.  It involves allegations of unfair trade practices in which the plaintiff class claimed over $300 million in treble damages.  In addition, plaintiffs sought to close down The Hartford’s entire automobile “direct repair” program.  AVH was brought in as substitute counsel to try this class action after the class had been certified, and after class certification was affirmed by the Connecticut Supreme Court.  Following jury selection and trial lasting two months, the jury rejected almost all of plaintiffs’ claims and awarded plaintiffs less than 5% of their treble damage claim.  Reflecting their disappointment in the verdict, Plaintiffs have announced their intention to appeal.   

AVH Wins Summary Judgment in Connecticut Supreme Court

Brown & Brown v. Blumenthal, (Conn. 2010): On August 2, 2010, AVH, on behalf of Brown & Brown, won a 7-0 summary judgment ruling. The ruling specified that the Connecticut Attorney General cannot make public documents or information he obtains through an antitrust subpoena. The Connecticut Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, agreed with AVH that material subpoenaed by Connecticut’s Attorney General in antitrust investigations are fully confidential and may not be disclosed outside the AG’s office except to governmental officials in other states who may not disclose the information outside their offices. The prohibition on disclosure is absolute during the investigation and, once litigation is commenced, the material may not be disclosed on the public record until a Court has decided, after notice and opportunity to be heard by the subpoena recipient, that the confidentiality restriction should be lifted.

AVH Defeats Summary Judgment in Corporate Raiding Case

Combined Energies, a division of Energy East Corp. v. CCI, (D. Me. 2009):  As Plaintiff, AVH defeated motions for summary judgment in U.S. District Court District of Maine in a case alleging tortious interference and breach of contract involving the raid on a company’s entire work force in the field of energy conservation.  Before reaching this stage, defendant had moved (unsuccessfully) to dismiss the case based on an arbitration provision.  That issue was appealed to the 1st Circuit, where we won an affirmance.  Subsequently, the District Court denied Defendant’s motion for summary judgment.  Faced with a jury trial and a demand for punitive damages based on allegations of raiding an entire work force, the defendant settled the case for a large dollar amount on the eve of trial on September 2, 2009.

AVH Successfully Represents UTC in Case Relating to Theft of Blueprints

United Technologies Corp. v. Mazer, et al., (11th Cir. 2009):  Obtained decision from 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Miami, FL on February 5, 2009, reversing dismissal and reinstating claims for theft of proprietary airplane tooling blueprints.  The case settled promptly on remand.

AVH Defends Appeal of Jury Verdict Won for Corporate Officers and Directors

Barrett v. Toroyan, et al., (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Commercial Division, 2008, NY App. Division, 2010): Won a jury verdict rejecting multimillion dollar claims of breach of fiduciary duties by directors and officers.  In a decision affirming the verdict and rejecting Plaintiff’s appeal, the Appellate Division wrote:  “Finding no New York case directly on point, we are persuaded by the opinions of the Court of Chancery of Delaware that have applied the preponderance of evidence standard  . . .  .”  Accordingly, this is a case of first impression as to whether to apply  the “clear and convincing” standard or the “preponderance of evidence” standard in a breach of fiduciary duty case. 

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