Complex Business and Real Estate Litigation
If you are running a business or handling real estate transactions today, you understand the complexity of modern deal-making, and the ever-increasing detail and potential liability of the resulting contracts.
Our attorneys have handled many cases arising out of hi-tech start-ups, sales of existing businesses, development of commercial and residential real estate, corporate take-overs, and partnership or LLC disputes. We have also represented individual entrepreneurs and business executives concerning their personal rights, obligations, and compensation.
We have extensive experience dealing with complicated, hard-fought, document-intensive, and high-stakes business and real estate litigation. We know our limits, and when to bring in outside expertise for unusual tax, regulatory, or intellectual property issues.
Representative Cases
A business executive served three successful years with a new employer, and earned enormous incentives, but never finalized or signed his very lucrative employment contract. As a result, the employer refused to pay the full amount due under the contract, and sued the executive for the return of millions of dollars in loans. The executive counterclaimed against his employer, and recovered $14.3 million in settlement, which netted him over $8.7 million after the loans were repaid.
A 4-person company processed insurance claims nationwide for the largest home mortgage lender in the country. After the company’s contract was terminated by the lender, and its final bills were not paid, the company learned that – for several years – the lender had not properly submitted all eligible claims for processing. The company filed for binding arbitration against the lender and won an award of $3.15 million, which included all lost profits, all legal fees, and all costs of litigation.
A sister owning 51% of a tool supply business tried to force out her brother owning 49% for a buyout worth only about $500,000 in cash. The brother sued, and was able to settle for a buyout totaling $2.4 million despite having surrendered most of his rights to his sister over the years.
A family trucking business won a jury verdict for $577,000 against a company that serviced the family’s trucks so poorly that they could not operate and lost contracts. The jury also awarded $200,000 in punitive damages, but the trial judge struck that portion of the verdict.
A small retailer in a shopping center recovered $650,000 in settlement from a developer who redesigned the center’s parking and traffic flow, causing the retail business to fail.
Two sisters claiming stock in a family-owned company recovered $3 million in settlement from the company, even though their father – who was the company founder – denied that they ever owned any stock.
Four small business owners in a shopping center recovered $900,000 in settlement from a developer and brokers who fraudulently misrepresented the percentage of the center that was leased.
A local businessman won a jury verdict for lost profits of $240,000 against the owner of a minor league baseball team who breached an oral agreement to sell 40% of the team.
In three different cases involving start-up companies, minority shareholders recovered a total of $1.43 million, debt cancellations, and valuable intellectual property rights from majority shareholders who forced them out of the companies they helped to build.
The board of a defense contracting company was forced out, sued, and its employee members were fired when the CEO and founder of the company used invalid proxies to take over the company. A proxy battle ensued in which the former board struck down the CEO’s proxies in court, won a court-supervised election, regained control of the company, and fired the CEO – all in just three months.
Contact us
Main office
Schneider & Branch
225 Broadway, Suite 400
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619-233-5500
Fax: 619-233-5535
David Schneider
Phone: 619-233-5562
Email: dks@schneiderbranchlaw.com
Michael Branch
Phone: 619-702-0500
Email: mlb@schneiderbranchlaw.com
Spencer K. Schneider
Phone: 415-494-9521
Email: sks@schneiderbranchlaw.com