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BUSINESS LITIGATION
Our practice encompasses all
types of business litigation,
including intellectual property
litigation, securities fraud
suits, class actions, antitrust
litigation, contract disputes,
partnership disputes, deceptive
trade practices litigation,
construction litigation,
employment law matters and
bankruptcy litigation. Our
attorneys are experienced trial
lawyers who try cases, both jury
and non-jury, in state and
federal courts throughout Texas.
Our litigation style is to seize
the initiative from our
opponents and put them on the
defensive through motions to
dismiss, for summary judgment or
other appropriate procedural
maneuvers. We have had a great
deal of success in obtaining
early dismissals and summary
judgments.
In terms of cost consciousness,
we believe that keeping fees
reasonable and emphasizing
overall cost effectiveness is
the best way to assure repeat
business. We do not "mark up"
Federal Express charges or
telephone calls, and certainly
do not charge for word
processing or overtime. Our
bills provide a clear
delineation of the activity,
hourly rate, and itemized
expenses. We will customize the
format of our bills as requested
and will prepare budgets as
needed by our clients. Most of all, however,
the ultimate cost effectiveness
comes from winning. We have a
proven track record of obtaining
dismissals, summary judgments,
and partial summary judgments
that lead to reasonable
settlements, and for winning
trials and appeals.
Our clients include banks,
venture capital firms,
technology firms, communications
companies, construction firms, more than a dozen
Texas school districts, as well
as a number of the nation's
largest insurers. The following
is a summary of our work for
several representative clients:
Summary Judgment Victories in
Two Patent Cases August 6, 2009
Skelton & Woody was co-counsel
with Kirkland & Ellis in a pair
of patent cases filed by
Encyclopedia Britannica against
Toyota, Honda, TomTom Inc.,
Magellan Navigation Inc., and
Alpine Electronics concerning
the map search function on GPS
devices. Encyclopedia
Britannica's patent infringement
claims were dismissed by Austin
Federal Judge Lee Yeakel who
found that Encyclopedia
Britannica's claim of priority
was broken and that Encyclopedia
Britannica's patents were
invalid. Please view the article
from Law360.com:
Toyota, Others Prevail In Spat
Over Britannica Map IP.
Victory on motion to dismiss
for lack of jurisdiction on
December 14, 2006
Austin Federal district judge
Lee Yeakel granted our client’s
motion to dismiss on
jurisdictional grounds in EIEIO,
Inc. v. Waring Oil, Inc., et.
al. on December 14, 2006. Waring,
a Mississippi corporation, had
purchased goods and material s
from the Plaintiff, a Texas
company. When disputes arose and
Plaintiff sued in Austin, Waring
moved to dismiss, citing the
absence of minimum contacts with
Texas necessary to support
jurisdiction in Texas courts.
The judge agreed, holding that
no minimum contacts were present
and, even had they existed, it
would offend traditional notions
of fair play and justice to
force Waring to come to Texas to
defend the suit. The court’s
opinion can be reviewed at the
following link:
EIEIO, Inc. v. Warning Oil, Inc.
Victory on Appeal on June 15,
2006
The Houston Court of Appeals
[1st Dist.] affirmed summary
judgment for OmniBank and its
former officer in Robert H.
Bishop v. Sadler, OmniBank and
Hardaway, 2006 WL 1669022 (Tex.
App.--Houston [1st Dist.].
Bishop, who had guaranteed a
loan to purchase a restaurant,
sued the seller, the bank and
the loan officer, alleging he
was fraudulently induced by all
into guaranteeing the loan. He
first brought an adversary
proceeding in bankruptcy court
against the buyer whose loan he
guaranteed, but lost in that
proceeding. Omnibank obtained
summary judgment on collateral
estoppel grounds and the court
of appeals affirmed.
Summary Judgment for Bank
Client June 6, 2006
In June 2006, Skelton Woody
obtained a summary judgment for
OmniBank in a lender liability
case brought by a land
developer. The plaintiff, JBTB,
Inc., had borrowed money from
the bank to develop raw land
into residential lots for sale
to a large national homebuilder.
JBTB under-budgeted by
approximately $900,000 and went
back to the bank for an
additional loan, which the bank
made. Disputes arose over the
terms and conditions of the new
loan, the timing of the funding
and certain draw requests. JBTB
sued alleging oral
misrepresentations, breach of
contract. OmniBank moved for
summary judgment and the Travis
County District Court granted
the motion.
Banking Litigation
Our banking litigation practice
covers regulatory hearings and
litigation as well as
traditional lawsuits brought by
borrowers, guarantors and others
throughout Texas. We have
handled a number of lender
liability cases, including a
major suit in Del Rio brought by
a borrower who claimed a bank's
breach of fiduciary duties had
caused the borrower to sell a
large family ranch. We
successfully negotiated with
directors' and officers'
insurance carrier to cover
defense and settlement costs,
protecting the bank from losses.
In January 2005, we obtained a
summary judgment for a major
Texas bank in a fraud and
misrepresentation suit brought
in Houston by a disgruntled
guarantor of a commercial loan.
Two victories in 2006 for bank
clients are featured in our
"news" section. The Texas
Banker's Association has
retained us on several matters,
including an amicus brief filed
in the Texas Supreme Court on an
important issue to the state's
banks. References are available
on request from our banking
clients.
Stock
Fraud and Contract Litigation
for New York Venture Capital
Firm
Defense of major New York
venture capital group in lawsuit
brought by terminated president
and CEO of a company the venture
capital group invested in, for
fraud and breach of contract in
connection with stock option
agreement. We were retained
shortly before trial to replace
a major New York firm. The week
before trial, we obtained a
complete summary judgment for
our client based on statute of
frauds, lack of consideration
and other affirmative defenses.
We then handled the appeal. The
Houston Court of Appeals
affirmed in 1996 and the Texas
Supreme Court rejected opposing
counsel's last appeal in late
1997. (The opinion is available
on Westlaw at 1996 WL 417651
(Tex. App.--Houston). Drawing
upon our insurance coverage law
expertise, we also convinced a
co-defendant's commercial
liability carrier to pay the
majority of our legal fees.
Estate Litigation
We represent litigants in major
will contest and breach of
fiduciary duty litigation
involving trusts and estates.
These matters are private and
not appropriate for website
postings, but references are
available on request.
Intellectual Property and
Contract Litigation for
Technology Startup Company
General representation of
startup technology company on
litigation matters, including
dispute with founders' former
employer, a large publicly
traded company, over
intellectual property, hiring,
and non-competition
arrangements. The much larger
competitor sought to enjoin the
startup company from operating
and we were successful in
defeating all challenges. We
also serve as local counsel to
several nationally prominent
intellectual property litigation
firms on major cases in Austin.
Amicus Briefs
Amicus brief projects for major
bank trade association on behalf
of member banks. Our most recent
project was a brief in the Texas
Supreme Court.
Lender Liability and Fiduciary
Duty Litigation
Defense of several Texas and
out-of-state banks in major
lender liability litigation
involving claims of fraud,
breach fiduciary duty, deceptive
trade and related claims brought
by borrower whose ranching
operation created large
indebtedness, resulting in
foreclosure on vast ranch
holdings. We also represent
banks in regulatory matters,
disputes involving federal and
state guaranty programs, and
other commercial matters.
Securities Fraud Litigation
Defense of numerous corporate
and individual clients. Our work
encompasses all aspects of
securities litigation and
enforcement actions, including
representation of corporations,
broker-dealers and numerous
officers and directors in
securities and fiduciary duty
litigation.
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