As reported in the Los Angeles Times and 50 other newspapers, TechnoLawyer member Joanne Frasca recently scored a major victory by persuading the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a $44.7 million jury verdict, one of the largest in California in 2002.
This litigation involves a dispute between sports agent Leigh Steinberg's firm, Steinberg, Moorad & Dunn, and David Dunn and his sports agency, Athletes First (Dunn was the inspiration for the "Jerry Maguire" character in the film of the same name).
Joanne, who represents Athletes First, convinced the Ninth Circuit that the trial court had committed reversible error by submitting a statutory unfair competition claim to the jury, and allowing compensatory and punitive damages to be awarded on this purely equitable claim. The Ninth Circuit held that this prejudicial error required the entire $47 million judgment to be vacated, including the award of punitive damages and attorney fees, and ordered the case remanded for a new trial.
The appellate court also held that the trial court made prejudicial and erroneous rulings, including the unenforceable noncompete clause in Dunn's employment agreement, and the erroneous admission of evidence concerning conduct protected by the litigation privilege under Civil Code Section 47.
With this case, Joanne and her small firm, Ducote & Frasca, P.C., along with solo practitioner Laura Sullivan, "took on and defeated one of California's largest firms — Morgan Lewis & Bockius." Joanne and her colleagues use case management and other legal software to help maintain their competitive edge.
You can download the court opinion and Los Angeles Times article here.
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