Commercial Litigation

Cases

• Serving as national counsel for a major international company in commercial litigation involving over 180 cases of alleged PCB exposure.
• Representing a utility provider in a breach of contract action involving more than $500 million in claims.
• Obtained immediate relief for Michelin in a trade secrets misappropriation case against a former employee and competitor in federal court in South Carolina.
• Representing an Argentinian sports figure in a high-profile case of first impression involving genetic cloning.
• After trial, won reversal of a $3 million property appraisal award against American Family and disqualification of the plaintiff's national property appraiser as well as the umpire on grounds that they were not impartial and failed to disclose directly relevant financial incentives and relationships.
• Won a complete defense judgment for an errors and omissions insurer that was sued for bad faith by an engineering firm. WTO attorneys proved that the policyholder did not comply with all of its policy obligations.
• Won a complete victory following a four-day arbitration for one of the nation's largest beauty and wellness franchisors, which was accused of franchise disclosure violations, violations of unfair competition laws, and breach of contract. WTO also successfully countersued for breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation, obtained preliminary and permanent injunctions, recovered liquidated damages, and secured an award of attorneys' fees and costs.
• Won a jury verdict in a $12 million commercial dispute involving breach of fiduciary duty, corporate waste, and embezzlement claims in a two-week trial in Los Angeles Superior Court. WTO won dismissal of the corporate waste claim before the jury began deliberations, and the jury found that WTO's client did not embezzle money.
• Achieved favorable settlements for an investment management company in a dispute with investors regarding alleged misrepresentations, conflicts of interest, and improper fees, including claims of breach of fiduciary duty and fraud.
• Served as trial counsel to a large chemical company in a confidential arbitration involving over $1 billion in claims arising from the sale of proprietary technology.
• Representing a telecommunications company in a high-value commercial dispute implicating a nationwide communications network.
• Representing an oil and gas company as post-trial and appellate counsel to defend a verdict of over $40 million in a complex commercial dispute involving an agreement to develop assets in Latin America.
• Representing a petroleum company in the Colorado Supreme Court in a commercial dispute presenting novel questions of state law governing oil and gas leases.
• Won a groundbreaking appeal successfully arguing a motion to vacate a $150 million arbitration award on behalf of the majority owner of Colorado cannabis corporation.
• Won affirmative summary judgment for a Canadian company in a dispute to recognize a $9 million breach-of-contract judgment entered in Alberta, Canada. WTO lawyers persuaded a Colorado federal court to recognize the judgment without an evidentiary hearing under the Uniform Foreign Country Money Judgments Recognition Act.
• Won in the Sixth Circuit for one of the world's leading kitchen and laundry appliance companies in a multimillion-dollar commercial licensing dispute.
• Won a plaintiff's jury verdict in Denver District Court for an investor in a multimillion dollar breach of contract trial. The case arose out of a mismanaged real estate development project.
• Won a $14.3 million arbitration award, plus attorneys' fees and costs, for a multistate cannabis operator in a Florida franchise dispute involving lost royalties and right-of-first-refusal issues.
• Successfully represented a Fortune 100 chemical company in a post-divestiture transaction dispute against a foreign government-owned investment company. WTO recovered tens of millions of dollars in cash plus non-cash value and helped secure closure of an antitrust inquiry.
• Successfully represented a party in a $2 billion dispute surrounding the future ownership of the Broncos NFL franchise and family trust.
• Successfully represented a corporate client in a multimillion-dollar complex commercial dispute involving breach of contract, non-compete, and trade secret claims. Resolved all claims in the client's favor and obtained an additional monetary award.
• Representing a party in a multimillion-dollar breach of contract dispute involving claims surrounding contractual capacity.
• Preserved exclusive rights for independent soft drink distributors in the Second Circuit against a large national distributor in a matter with billions of dollars at stake across the industry.
• Won favorable settlement for a technology company against a supplier that failed to fulfill or refund a $1.5 million order of personal protection equipment (PPE) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Won a preliminary injunction for one of the nation's largest health and wellness franchisors against three competing fitness and nutrition studios that had stolen our client's trade secrets, infringed on its trademarks, and breached non-compete obligations.
• Served as co-counsel to an oil and gas company in an $80 million dispute. During mediation, WTO helped effect a buyout solution resulting in valuable land rights and resolving the lawsuit for a small fraction of what it would have cost to settle.
• Won a trial verdict as co-counsel for a large financial services provider in a $75 million dispute over the company's allegedly excessive fees.
• Negotiated landmark settlement for a New Jersey bank in "true lender" litigation brought by the State of Colorado that threatened the viability of the multibillion-dollar fintech consumer lending industry.
• Won a $1.25 billion exit fee dispute for an electric distributor against its generation and transmission provider.
• Won the appeal to end a bitter ownership fight for a $1B oil and gas company.
• Facilitated a rural electric cooperative's withdrawal from membership in a wholesale cooperative. WTO's client achieved settlement for hundreds of millions of dollars below the wholesaler's demand and can now acquire substantially cheaper and renewable green energy sources for its members.
• Obtained preliminary injunction for a television provider against a large Middle Eastern media company that violated an exclusive distribution agreement.
• Won affirmance of WTO's trial victory for IBM Corp. in a $6.1 million municipal tax dispute.
• Won a second unanimous jury verdict for a leading auto-parts manufacturer in an 11-year-old breach of contract dispute in federal court in Kentucky. Due to the results of a prior appeal, WTO's client held the burden of proof on key issues in the trial.
• Won a trial for two estate creditors accused of colluding with an estate representative to defraud the primary beneficiary. The presiding judge entered judgment for WTO's clients, concluding that the plaintiff had failed to prove virtually every necessary element of her claims.
• Represented a wholesale energy company in a multi-jurisdictional dispute with multiple counterparties, preserving tens of millions of dollars of contract value and a key long-term business objective for the client.
• Successfully represented a global industrial gas company in defense of a competitor's application for preliminary and mandatory injunctive relief, ultimately facilitating resolution of a dispute valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars on highly favorable terms.
• Won summary judgment for Crestone Peak Resources against Boulder County in a case involving an attempt to invalidate a key oil and gas lease that would have materially impacted Crestone's $900 million investment, thereby clearing a major hurdle to significant future development.
• Won a defense verdict as co-counsel to defeat claims that WTO's oil and gas client owed $400 million to a stakeholder.
• Successfully represented Aimco, one of the largest apartment owners in the U.S., in nationwide litigation alleging intentional torts against Airbnb. After jury selection in the first trial, Airbnb settled all litigation on terms allowing Aimco to control short-term rental activity consistent with its contract and property rights.
• Won a defense verdict as co-counsel to defeat $800 million claims in a bet-the-company shareholder dispute involving an oil and gas client.
• Won a pair of rare, permanent injunctions against a major distributor that infringed on WTO's client's exclusive distribution territory. The ongoing litigation involves bet-the-company stakes and may have far-reaching repercussions in the industry.
• Defeated a preliminary injunction brought by a former investment executive who sued to nullify a noncompete and launch a competing firm by taking 50 clients representing $200 million in investments. Collaborating with another law firm, WTO showed in a two-day, federal court hearing that the former executive did not meet the requirements for injunctive relief. The Court agreed and denied the motion.
• Won summary judgment in arbitration for a nation-leading telecom provider in an indemnification dispute with a former subcontractor whose employee filed a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. Though the plaintiff was one classmember among thousands, WTO demonstrated that the subcontractor was liable to indemnify WTO's client for all of its attorneys' fees related to the class action and a pro rata share of the resulting settlement.
• Won a trial verdict for IBM as plaintiff in a $6.1 million tax dispute against the City of Golden involving sales and use taxes assessed over a seven-year span.
• Won an arbitration involving a $50 million claim brought by a joint venture partner against WTO's oil and gas company client.
• Argued and won for FCA (fka Chrysler) in the Sixth Circuit in a case involving the question of whether federal legislation enacted following the Chrysler bankruptcy preempted Ohio state dealer laws.
• Won Second Circuit affirmance for a Michelin subsidiary upholding summary judgment from the Southern District of New York. The case involved fraud perpetrated by a former employee and a third party.
• Won a multimillion-dollar arbitration award for an energy company, recovering more than 15 times the last settlement offer made before trial.
• Represented a Fortune 20 company in an international arbitration hearing that resulted in a settlement, after the hearing concluded, for more than 90% of our client's claim.
• Won a complete defense jury verdict for a major auto parts manufacturer in federal court in Kentucky. WTO was called in just six months before trial in this protracted contract dispute that had already included two trips to the Sixth Circuit.
• Successfully represented an aerospace supplier in a product liability action involving responsibility for a $10 million cleanup effort at a rocket manufacturing facility.
• Successfully defended a Fortune 50 telecommunications conglomerate against allegations brought by a competitor that WTO's client breached FCC phone number portability regulations.
• Won summary judgment on multiple claims for a national dermatology practice with over 50 offices. Claims included breach of contract, conspiracy, fraud, and other allegations. Once the major claims were dismissed, the plaintiffs agreed to a nuisance settlement that involved no payment by WTO's client.
• Won a jury verdict for Armstrong Steel against claims of false advertising and defamation in a two-week trial in federal court in Colorado. A competitor of Armstrong sought millions of dollars.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction for a $1 billion oil and gas client involved in bet-the-company litigation against an executive.
• Obtained dismissal for an insurance company client facing a civil RICO lawsuit in federal court, with risk of treble damages, for issuing a surety bond to a marijuana business as required by state regulations. The judge granted our client's motion to dismiss because the plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege injury sufficient to establish RICO standing.
• Represented Denver International Airport against the Regional Transportation District in a dispute over cost-sharing agreements involving a new rail line serving the airport.
• Won summary judgment for a major ski resort as plaintiff in a contract dispute involving a wireless infrastructure contractor.
• Won reversal of a TRO that had been issued ex parte at the close of business on a Friday, effectively shutting down operations for a major manufacturing and distribution client, and subsequently won rejection of the injunction against WTO's client.
• Won Fifth Circuit affirmance of a trial court's summary judgment for Michelin in a case alleging that Michelin and General Motors conspired to prevent the plaintiff from obtaining Michelin racing tires for use in the American Le Mans racing series. The original complaint included antitrust claims, which were dismissed, and unfair competition claims that survived until discovery, when no evidence supporting such claims was produced and the trial court granted summary judgment.
• Represented a domestic company seeking to protect and enforce an international marketing and distribution agreement in simultaneous actions filed in Florida and California federal trial courts.
• Won an arbitration award for future oil and gas royalties valued between $70,000,000 and $100,000,000 in a David v. Goliath case against a multinational oil company.
• Defended Ford Motor Co. in a four-month certified class action trial involving $2 billion in consumer fraud claims. On the day set for closing arguments, the plaintiffs agreed to a no-cash, coupon-based settlement for the California class and classes in three other states with pending parallel actions.
• Obtained a temporary restraining order in Denver District Court against a retailer and its owner in a brand-protection case WTO handled for a well-known appliance manufacturing company.
• Won a jury defense verdict for Conoco following a six-week trial involving claims by the town of Castle Rock, Colorado that a leaking Conoco underground storage tank had contaminated the town's municipal drinking water.
• Won Fifth Circuit affirmation of the lower court's granting of summary judgment in a case alleging unfair monopolization against FMC Corporation and involving the company's aircraft boarding bridges.
• Settled trademark/antitrust litigation regarding nationwide market for distribution of greeting cards.
• Prevailed in a preliminary injunction hearing in a dispute over a valuable lease farmout relating to a successful oil shale well in Wyoming for a large regional energy company.
• Represented a natural gas company in a complex contract dispute involving production from a large gas field in Wyoming; the case was favorably resolved before trial.
• Won a commercial arbitration that sought a buyout of client's multimillion dollar interest in a nationwide petroleum marketing joint venture.
• Won the seminal New Jersey decision on ascertainable loss in consumer fraud actions and affirmed summary judgment in favor of Mercedes-Benz.