Practice Area Highlights
Government, Environmental and Energy Group
Award-Winning Site Work
Butler Snow’s Government, Environmental and Energy Group teamed with Arcadis US recently won a Phoenix Award for excellence in Brownfield development. Butler Snow helped client CSX Transportation gain admittance into the Brownfield program for the Former Gautier Oil Company site located in Gautier, Mississippi. The award recognizes “the best of the best” for “remeditating and transforming a site into a significant community asset.” The Phoenix Awards recognize “successful revitalization projects, honor project participants, and encourage project participants to share their knowledge/techniques so model projects can be replicated across the country.”
Commercial Litigation Group
Summary Judgement for Flowood YMCA and The Redwoods Group
Butler Snow attorneys Chad Hutchinson and John Dollarhide recently obtained a summary judgment in the County Court of Rankin County for Butler Snow client Flowood YMCA and its insurer, The Redwoods Group. The plaintiff alleged personal injuries sustained in a slip-and-fall at the Flowood YMCA pool.
Appellate and Written Advocacy Group
New Member Obtains Successful Decision
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has enforced a bank guaranty in a case Luther T. Munford argued on behalf of the bank - Branch Banking and Trust Company v. Price, March 22, 2013. The debtor, a Columbia, MS businessman, contended that the guaranties in question conflicted and so required no payment. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that a Mississippi tobacco fee violated the interstate commerce clause of the United States Constitution. Commonwealth Brands Inc. v. Morgan, April 4, 2013. The fee applied to either distribution or sale, and so discriminated against interstate commerce as applied to cigarettes distributed through Mississippi for sale elsewhere. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court on the merits but affirmed its refusal to award attorneys’ fees. Luther T. Munford argued for Commonwealth Brands, which is now a Butler Snow client.
Commercial Litigation Group
Arbitration Win in Puerto Rico
Butler Snow attorney Danny Van Horn obtained a $1.2 million arbitration award for client RMS Lifeline, Inc. against Dialysis Access Center, PC and Dr. Justo Gonzalez in an arbitration conducted in Puerto Rico by the American Health Lawyers Association. The case involved a commercial dispute concerning the meaning of the management services agreement between RMS Lifeline and the dialysis access group. The arbitrator found for RMS Lifeline awarding it in excess of $1.2 million in base damages together with interest and an award of attorneys’ fees. As to the claims that Dialysis Access Center, P.C. and Dr. Justo Gonzalez brought against Lifeline, the arbitrator found in favor of RMS Lifeline. The arbitrator also found that the defendants had committed fraud against Lifeline and set out $300,000 of the $1.2 million dollar award as attributable to fraud.
General Litigation Group
Favorable Judgment Obtained for JATRAN
Butler Snow attorneys Michael L. Brown and Art D. Spratlin, Jr. recently obtained a judgment in favor of our client, JATRAN (the public bus system for the City of Jackson), following a bench trial on December 3-5, 2012, before Judge Jeff Weill in Hinds County Circuit Court. The case involved personal injury claims brought by two passengers on the bus, arising from a motor vehicle accident between the JATRAN bus and a City of Jackson Dump Truck. Plaintiffs’ alleged various injuries as a result of the accident. The Court found no liability on the part of JATRAN, and assessed all fault and damages to our Co-Defendant, the City of Jackson, based on a finding of 100% negligence attributable to the driver of the City Dump Truck.
Commercial Litigation Group
Commercial Litigation and Appellate Groups Victory
Butler Snow Attorneys Randy Noel, Betsy Chance and John Henegan obtained a favorable decision from the Tennessee Court of Appeals on behalf of Memphis Light Gas and Water Division, the City of Memphis' electric and gas utility. The Court allowed the utility's condemnation of an easement for electric transmission lines, reversing the trial court's ruling in favor of the landowners and vacating the award of attorneys' fees. At issue were important issues of eminent domain law and the utility's condemnation authority. The landowners applied to the Tennessee Supremem Court for permission to appeal, which was denied by the Supreme Court, upholding the victory for Memphis Light Gas and Water.
Business Services Group
Life Sciences M and A Team Closes International Acquisition
Members of Butler Snow’s Business Services Group recently represented an international life sciences company in its acquisition of a multi-national distribution company having operations in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Poland and Switzerland. The transaction involved aggregate consideration valued at approximately $140 million and marks the completion of the third component of a larger, internal restructuring and global expansion of the company which is valued at approximately $500 million. Members of the Butler Snow team include Bob Morris, Al Bright, Jeff McGoff and Wes Scott.
Appellate and Written Advocacy Group
Appellate Advocacy Group Obtains Favorable Decision
Butler Snow attorneys LeAnn W. Nealey and Donna Brown Jacobs of the firm’s Appellate Advocacy group recently obtained a favorable decision from the Mississippi Supreme Court reversing a $2.5 Million judgment against a major grocery retailer. This premises liability case involved a woman who was beaten in a purse snatching on the store premises. Clarifying the scope of a business owner’s duty of care, the Court found as a matter of law that, in the context of the retailer's more than three million customer visits over the course of three years, the four incidences of criminal activity the customer presented were insufficient to establish the requisite atmosphere of violence on the retailer's parking lot. Additionally, the fact that crime occurred throughout the I-55 corridor within which the store was located, absent sufficient evidence of criminal activity on the retailer's property, or near enough to pose a danger to the retailer's customers, was insufficient to establish liability. The Court also held that the evidence was insufficient to find that the assailant's attack on the customer was a foreseeable consequence of not having an armed guard in the parking lot, and thus the retailer had no duty to provided armed security in its lot.
Labor and Employment Group
Photopulos and Walker Attend International ELA Conference
L
abor and Employment Group
members Todd P. Photopulos and Jeffrey A. Walker recently took part in the 13th annual international conference of the Employment Law Alliance (ELA) in Vancouver, British Columbia. Photopulos chaired the Global Business Immigration Group and spoke on an international panel. Walker serves on the ELA Board. The alliance is a powerful legal resource for employers and a network of 3,000 labor and employment lawyers prescreened for quality and responsiveness in all 50 U.S. states and 300 cities internationally.
Tax Group
Fawal Obtained Verdict For Insurer
Butler Snow attorney and member of the General Litigation Practice Group, A. David Fawal, recently obtained a verdict for an insurer following a trial on both liability and coverage. The underlying case involved disputed property and water rights along the Tennessee River in North Alabama, and whether the construction of a pier was in violation of such rights. Due to a number of claims coverage related questions against the insureds, the trial court permitted the insurer to intervene. The court then tried the coverage issues following the trial of the underlying case. In its order released on October 3, 2012, the court found in favor of the plaintiffs and against the insureds, but also ruled that the insurer had no duty to indemnify as there was no coverage under the applicable policy.
Government Relations Group
Successful Handling of the Preclearance Submissions for 2012 Miss. Senate and House of Representatives
Butler Snow successfully handled the preclearance submissions for the 2012 Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives redistricting plans before the United States Department of Justice. For the first time since Reconstruction, Republicans captured control of the State House of Representatives, resulting in the election of a new Speaker of the House and Republicans gaining control of both legislative chambers. Unable to reach agreement on redistricting plans during the 2011 legislative session, the newly elected chambers successfully adopted plans during the 2012 session. Butler Snow lawyers Tommie Cardin, Heather Ladner and Parker Berry represented the Standing Joint Committee on Legislative Reapportionment in developing the plans and submitting them for preclearance. Legal Assistants Donna Hardin and Velvet Johnson provided critical support in preparing the preclearance submissions. The Department of Justice precleared both Senate and House plans on September 14, 2012.
Tax Group
Butler Snow Recognized at STEP Client Awards in London
Butler Snow Recognized at STEP Client Awards in London
Butler Snow’s Tax Group was recently recognized at the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Private Client Awards in London aside some of the top firms in North America. The STEP Private Client Awards highlight excellence among private client solicitors/attorneys, accountants, barristers, bankers, trust managers and financial advisors. Butler Snow was a one of four finalists for the STEP North American Team of the Year. We are honored to have the work of our Tax Group recognized at an international awards event.
Banking, Real Estate and Financial Services Group
Suit Dismissal
Butler Snow attorney Michael P. Coury recently obtained dismissal of a suit brought in the federal bankruptcy court for the Northern District of Mississippi by a Chapter 12 bankruptcy trustee against a family limited partnership and its general partner. The trustee sought to avoid a security interest held by the general partner in the debtor’s limited partnership interest, and to avoid payments made to the general partner on account of loans made to the debtor. Additionally, the trustee sought to disallow the general partner’s proof of claim and compel disgorgement of prior payments made on the claim. The bankruptcy court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss and held that the claims were time barred and that claim objection procedures could not be used to disallow a claim based on avoidance of a security interest where the statute of limitations had run on the underlying avoidance claim.
General Litigation Group
Defense Verdict for Trucking Company
Butler Snow attorneys Adam Spicer and Art Spratlin recently obtained a defense verdict for a national car-hauler in the Circuit Court of Washington County, Mississippi. LeAnn Nealey, a member of Butler Snow’s appellate advocacy group, served as appellate counsel. The Plaintiff suffered severe neck and spinal cord injuries when she struck a stopped vehicle waiting for the Defendant truck driver to complete a backing maneuver. Plaintiff asked for over $3.6 Million in closing. After a four-day trial, the jury returned its verdict for the trucking company after 30 minutes of deliberation.
Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare Industry Team
Merger and Clinical Co-Management Agreement
Members of Butler Snow’s Healthcare Regulatory and Transactions and Business Services Groups recently represented a national, for-profit health care company in the merger of one of its acute care, joint-ventured hospitals with an ambulatory surgery center, which was converted into a provider-based outpatient surgery department of the hospital. In connection with the merger, the hospital and a newly-formed management company, primarily owned by former physician investors in the ambulatory surgery center, entered into a Clinical Co-Management Agreement to administer and govern the provision of outpatient surgery at the facility, including incentive-based payment for compliance with quality metrics. Members of the Butler Snow team included Scott Shanker, Wes Scott, Al Bright, Geoffrey Hirsch, Paula Daniel and Atara Balanson.
Product Liability, Toxic Tort and Environmental Group
Two Defense Verdicts
Members of Butler Snow’s Litigation Group, lead by Orlando “Rod” Richmond, recently obtained two defense verdicts on behalf of Hoffmann-La Roche in a consolidated trial of four plaintiffs in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The eight week trial involved allegations of an inadequate warning and injuries in connection with a pharmaceutical product. The two recent defense verdicts follow a similar result in the same venue and litigation last year, when a team of lawyers, lead by Butler Snow, prevailed in two of three claims consolidated for trial. The team also included William Gage, Mark Dreher, Ashley Nader, Rae Hopkins, Marie Russell and Sandra Patton.
Appellate and Written Advocacy Group
Favorable Decision
Butler Snow recently obtained a favorable decision from the Fifth Circuit affirming summary judgment for an employer on an employee’s claim of bad faith refusal of worker’s compensation benefits. The Fifth Circuit held that the action was time barred. The court based the limitations period on the time that elapsed from the date the administrative law judge’s order granting temporary disability benefits became final and was not appealed. The employee had also amended her complaint, attempting to allege a claim for continuing bad faith. The Fifth Circuit held that her new allegations failed to state a continuing violation, and affirmed the district court’s dismissal of her second amended complaint. Butler Snow attorneys Melody McAnally and Arthur D. Spratlin, Jr. obtained summary judgment and LeAnn W. Nealey, with their assistance, successfully handled the appeal.
Commercial Litigation Group
Recent Victory
Members of Butler Snow’s Commercial Litigation Group successfully defended a regional financial services provider in a case involving claims of negligence and conversion, among others, in federal court. The plaintiff alleged that the bank had honored a check payable to the plaintiff but lacking the plaintiff’s endorsement; thus, according to the plaintiff, the bank was liable for its customer’s apparent misappropriation of over half a million dollars. In granting the bank’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, however, the court held that the U.C.C. barred the plaintiff’s common law negligence claims, and the plaintiff failed to state a claim against the bank for conversion under the U.C.C. Members of the defense team were Randy Noel, Melody McAnally, and Will Perry.
Product Liability, Toxic Tort and Environmental Group
Fifth Circuit Affirms Removal of Automotive Product Liability Action Because Selling Dealer Was Improperly Joined
Butler Snow recently obtained a victory for a major U.S. automobile manufacturer in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The plaintiffs brought a product liability action in state court against the vehicle manufacturer and tried to defeat federal diversity jurisdiction by asserting numerous claims against the Mississippi dealership that sold the subject vehicle. The case was removed to federal court, and the district court dismissed the dealership, holding that it had been improperly joined as a defendant. On appeal, Butler Snow attorneys successfully argued that the plaintiffs failed to establish a possibility of recovery against the dealership on their claims for negligence, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of express and implied warranties. Persuaded that the plaintiffs had failed to show the dealership was anything other than an innocent seller under Mississippi law, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision dismissing the claims against the dealership and denied the plaintiffs’ motion to remand the case to state court. Butler Snow attorneys Paul Cassisa and Kari Sutherland successfully handled the appeal on behalf of the defendants.
Product Liability, Toxic Tort and Environmental Group
Fifth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Personal Injury Suit Against Automobile Manufacturer
In a recent personal injury suit, Butler Snow successfully represented a major U.S. automobile manufacturer on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The district court granted the defendant manufacturer’s motion to dismiss on grounds that the plaintiff failed to comply with Rules 8(a) and 10(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and that her cause of action had prescribed (statute of limitations had run) under Louisiana law. The plaintiff moved for reconsideration under Rule 60(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, arguing that relief from dismissal of her claims was warranted because she was under heavy medication as a result of the car accident on which her claims were based, thus excusing her failure to comply with the procedural rules. The district court denied her motion. On behalf of the defendant manufacturer, Butler Snow attorney Paul Cassisa successfully argued on appeal that there were no “extraordinary circumstances” warranting relief from the district court’s decision, resulting in a victory for our client.
Commercial Litigation Group
11th Circuit Reversal Upholds Insurer's Exclusion of Coverage as to Personal Injury
Members of Butler Snow's Commercial Litigation Group participated in a trial in federal court in Mobile where an insurer was being sued for bad faith in the denial of a claim for indemnity resulting from a judgment rendered against its insured for slander. The trial court had previously granted summary judgment for the insured against the insurer for breach of contract finding that the exclusion in which the insurer based its denial was ambiguous and therefore not a proper denial. A trial proceeded as to the bad faith and resulted in a verdict for the insurer. On appeal of the earlier ruling on the breach of contract, the 11 th Circuit reversed and rendered judgment in favor of the insurer finding that its exclusion of coverage as to personal injury caused by slander was not ambiguous or illusory. Members of defense team were Michael B. Beers and Angela Taylor Baker.
Appellate and Written Advocacy Group
Intellectual Property
Butler Snow recently obtained a favorable decision from the Mississippi Court of Appeals holding that the trial court had personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant who entered into a non-disclosure agreement with a Mississippi company and client of Butler Snow. As Mississippi and the nation increase its knowledge-based industry (rather than traditional manufacturing), courts are recognizing that creating intellectual property is akin to creating traditional hard goods. The decision appears to be the first instance in which a Mississippi court has explicitly stated that intellectual property is a good or service which in turn allows jurisdiction to be exercised based on a non-disclosure agreement. Butler Snow attorneys Frank M. Holbrook and Paul M. Ellis successfully handled the appeal.
Appellate and Written Advocacy Group
Minimal Damage Award Affirmed
The Mississippi Court of Appeals recently affirmed a minimal damages award in a case arising from a motor vehicle accident in which the plaintiff sought close to a million dollars in damages. The case was defended by Butler Snow in the Circuit Court of Jefferson Davis County. The plaintiff appealed, seeking a new trial and/or additur, and both counts were denied by the court. Butler Snow attorney Patrick T. Bergin tried the case and attorney Paul M. Ellis successfully handled the appeal.
Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare Industry Team
Defense Verdict
Members of Butler Snow’s Litigation Group, led by Christy Jones, obtained a defense verdict for Merck in Atlantic County New Jersey in an eight-week trial. The case was brought by a single plaintiff alleging serious injuries as a result of using a pharmaceutical medicine. This is the second victory for this team in New Jersey in this litigation. Members of the Butler Snow team included Christy Jones, Adam Spicer, Donna Jacobs, Alyson Jones, Bonnie Tuten, and Catherine Mason.
Intellectual Property Group
Summary Judgment
Butler Snow attorney Anita Modak-Truran, recently received a summary judgment in favor of Sony Music Entertainment, Inc., from the Circuit Court of Leflore County, Mississippi. This case concerned the estate of blues singer, Robert Johnson, and has been in pending litigation for 12 years. The plaintiffs claimed they were entitled to royalties from two photographs of Robert Johnson. The trial court granted summary judgment on all claims in favor of Sony Music Entertainment, Inc., holding that the claims were time-barred and that there was no triable issue of fact on the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims for royalties, rescission, breach of contract, unfair competition and other claims.
Commercial Litigation Group
Mississippi Supreme Court
Charles Griffin successfully served as lead counsel for former Governor Haley Barbour in his role as amicus curiae, both with respect to briefing and oral argument before the trial court and the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Click here
to see video of Charles Griffin.
Tax Group
Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
Butler Snow attorney Kurt G. Rademacher was recently elected as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (“ACTEC”). ACTEC Fellows must demonstrate the highest level of integrity, commitment to the profession, competence and experience as trust and estate counselors. All ACTEC Fellows have made substantial contributions to the field of trusts and estates law through writing, teaching and bar leadership activities. Individual lawyers meeting the criteria for ACTEC membership are nominated by Fellows of the College, and subjected to careful review by both state and national membership selection committees, prior to consideration for admission by the Regents of the College.
Product Liability, Toxic Tort and Environmental Group
Summary Judgment Upheld at Fifth Circuit
Members of Butler Snow’s Products Liability Group and Commercial Litigation Group recently obtained summary judgment for a large truck stop operator in federal district court for the Southern District of Mississippi in a premises liability case involving alleged bleach exposure. The principal allegation was that the truck stop operator was negligent by failing to warn the plaintiff that the restroom had been cleaned with bleach. The plaintiff failed to designate a medical expert to testify that his skin lesions were caused by bleach exposure, relying instead on his own testimony and the principle of res ipsa loquitur to prove negligence. The District Court granted summary judgment on May 19, 2011, holding that the plaintiff’s injuries required expert medical testimony and therefore that res ipsa loquitur did not apply. The plaintiff appealed to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. On March 9, 2012, in a per curiam opinion, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the summary judgment, following the District Court’s reasoning. Members of the defense team were Chad Hutchinson and John Dollarhide.
General Litigation Group
General Litigation Group Victory
Members of Butler Snow’s General Litigation Group recently obtained a victory for an insurance company client regarding an early dismissal on a motion. After removing the suit to federal court, they convinced the Court, that under applicable law, the insurance client was due to be dismissed with prejudice. After an extensive briefing, the Court agreed. Members of the defense team were A. David Fawal and Katie Taylor.
Commercial Litigation Group
Defense Verdict
Members of Butler Snow’s Commercial Litigation Group successfully defended a regional financial services provider in a case involving claims of fraud, conversion and conspiracy, among others, in Tennessee state court. The primary beneficiary of a decedent’s estate alleged that the bank’s customer forged her name on a check and cashed it with the assistance of a bank employee. The court ruled that the bank (though not the bank’s co-defendant) was not liable. Members of the defense team were Melody McAnally and Will Perry.
Product Liability, Toxic Tort and Environmental Group
Defense Verdict
Members of Butler Snow’s Product Liability Litigation Group recently obtained a ruling in favor of their clients on a contentious removal issue. The personal injury plaintiff filed suit in the Circuit Court of Claiborne County, Mississippi, seeking to recover damages for alleged personal injuries sustained in an on-the-job accident while working on a natural gas pipeline. The plaintiff, a Tennessee resident, named numerous entities and individuals as defendants in the matter, including his employer, the parent corporation of his employer, the owners of the pipeline, and three co-workers. Though none of the named defendants were residents of Tennessee, the plaintiff attempt to circumvent the defendants’ right to remove the case to federal court by naming as a defendant a worker who was a resident of Mississippi. The Butler Snow team led the way on removing the action to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Western Division, on the grounds that the Mississippi resident was an improperly joined party. On October 26, 2011, United States District Judge David Bramlette issued an Opinion and Order, finding that the Mississippi resident was improperly joined in the action, dismissing the Mississippi resident from the case, and holding that the removal was proper. The full opinion can be found at McGee v. Willbros Construction, US, LLC, et al., Civ. A. No. 5:11-CV-00080-DCB-JMR, 2011 WL 5082254 (S.D. Miss. Oct. 26, 2011). Members of the litigation team were Robert A. Miller and Kyle Miller.
Commercial Litigation Group
Defense Verdict
Members of Butler Snow’s Commercial Litigation Group recently obtained summary judgment for a South Mississippi bank, and one of its Vice-Presidents in Jackson County Circuit Court in a case by a purchaser of land who was put in touch with sellers by the Vice-President and who later borrowed the $800,000 purchase price from this South Mississippi Bank. The sellers, represented by other counsel, were also granted summary judgment. The principal allegation was that sellers and the bank Vice-President failed to tell purchaser about a meeting between representatives of sellers and the local electric utility, held in the bank Vice-President’s office, concerning a possible 115 kv electric line easement along the road frontage of the land in question. Two years after the sale the utility decided to place the line on the land in question and proceed with an eminent domain action. The Order granting summary judgment was entered by Circuit Judge Kathy King Jackson on October 25, 2011. Members of the defense team were Bob Galloway and Shannon Favre.
Commercial Litigation Group
Defense Verdict
Butler Snow attorney A. David Fawal
recently obtained a defense verdict for an insurance company client following a two and a half week trial. On October 25, 2011, the jury announced its favorable decision in the insurance fraud/arson trial case tried in Etowah County, Alabama.
Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare Industry Team
Defense Verdict
Members of Butler Snow’s Pharmaceutical Medical Device and Healthcare Industry Team helped secure two defense verdicts for Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Development, LLC and Ortho-McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in products liability cases involving the fluoroquinolone antibiotic, Levaquin. The plaintiffs filed suit against Johnson & Johnson and Ortho-McNeil claiming the drug caused their Achilles tendon injuries and that the label inadequately warned of the association between tendon injuries and fluoroquinolones. After six weeks of trial in the Superior Court of New Jersey, in Atlantic City, the jury returned a defense verdict on October 14, 2011, for Johnson & Johnson and Ortho-McNeil as to both plaintiffs. Christy Jones served as lead trial counsel and assisting in trial preparation were Adam Spicer, Chad Hutchinson and Liz Moccaldi.
Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare Industry Team
Defense Verdict
Members of Butler Snow's Pharmaceutical Medical Device and Healthcare Industry Team, were part of the trial team that returned another defense verdict for McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a division of McNeil-PPC, Inc. in the fifth case to go to trial over claims that Children's Motrin caused Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and/or Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis. The jury announced its decision in the case tried in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco, on March 22, 2011. Members of the trial team were Michael B. Hewes, Chad R. Hutchinson and Kari L. Sutherland.
Commercial Litigation Group
Commercial Litigation Group Victory
Members of Butler Snow’s Commercial Litigation Group recently obtained victory for Curtis Lumber Company in a four-day federal jury trial in Helena, Arkansas. Curtis Lumber Company argued that a vendor had engaged in deceptive trade practices and acts in connection with a rebate program. The vendor refused to pay rebates based on the terms as originally marketed. Curtis Lumber faced lost sales and was forced to pay rebates previously promised by the vendor. Members of the trial team were Graham W. Askew and Daniel W. Van Horn.
Business Services Group
Brewery Deal Closes
Members of Butler Snow’s Business Services Group represented Chism Hardy Enterprises LLC in the sale of the former Memphis Coors Brewery to City Brewing Co. in a $30 million transaction. The closing was announced by Hardy Bottling Co. CEO and founder Carolyn Hardy and clears the way for the buyer to work toward beginning production in July. The Wisconsin-based company will invest $11 million in restoring full production to the plant, which will employ as many as 500 workers within five years. Members of the Butler Snow team, led by Jason G. Yarbro, include Al Bright Jr., Paula Proctor Daniel, Gregg C. Gumbert and Gary C. Rikard.
Product Liability, Toxic Tort and Environmental Group
Accutane Verdicts
Members of Butler Snow’s Product Liability Group recently obtained two defense verdicts in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. in a trial involving the drug Accutane. The verdicts were the first defense verdicts in the consolidated Accutane proceedings in New Jersey state court. Members of the Butler Snow team included Lead Trial Counsel Orlando R. Richmond Sr. and Mark A. Dreher.
Tax Group
International Tax
Hong Kong – Butler Snow attorney Kurt G. Rademacher appeared on CNBC Asia for an interview regarding U.S. tax cuts, post-election. Throughout the interview, Rademacher discusses his thoughts on whether Congress would act to extend the current U.S. tax rates or allow them to sunset. He forecasted action on the part of Congress, and in late December 2010, the U.S. Congress voted to extend the tax cuts through 2012.
Rademacher is a member of the Butler Snow Taxation Group, and has represented clients around the world in the areas of private client and wealth management, estate and trust planning and international taxation.
Product Liability, Toxic Tort and Environmental Group
Equipment
Mississippi – Butler Snow attorneys Frank M. Holbrook and William P. (Will) Thomas obtained a defense verdict for Deere & Company in a case filed in the First Judicial District of the Circuit Court of Panola County, Mississippi.
The 17-year-old plaintiff was injured while operating a John Deere tractor and rotary cutter to mow a pasture. The unbelted operator/plaintiff suffered severe injuries that ultimately required amputation of both legs and extensive rehabilitation.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged that the tractor and rotary cutter were each defective due to failure to include alternative designs that would have prevented the plaintiff's injuries. During the six-day trial, in addition to numerous fact witnesses, the plaintiff called three liability experts and two damage experts. Deere called two in-house experts and two experts who testified on vehicle dynamics and occupant kinematics. The plaintiff asked for $60 million in actual damages in closing argument. After 30 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned an 11-1 verdict in favor of Deere & Company.
Holbrook is a member of the Commercial Litigation Group and has successfully represented companies such as AT&T Mississippi, Fedex and Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Thomas is a member of the Product Liability Group; he represents companies in cases involving agricultural/chemical products as well as all-terrain vehicles.
Labor and Employment Group
Sexual Harassment
Butler Snow attorney Alison Tasma Vance recently obtained a defense verdict in a two-week sexual harassment trial in federal court, a case that was featured in the August 2010 edition of Federal Jury Verdict Reporter. The jury returned a unanimous verdict for the Firm’s client. Vance is a member of Butler Snow’s Labor and Employment Group and has successfully defended companies such as Baxter Healthcare Corp., Regions Bank, Beau Rivage Resorts Inc. and West Fraser.
Commercial Litigation Group
Global Warming Litigation
Mississippi – Members of Butler Snow’s Commercial Litigation Group have been representing ConocoPhillips Company in a significant global warming lawsuit in federal court. Private plaintiffs whose property was damaged by Hurricane Katrina sought money damages from oil and energy companies on the theory that the defendants’ greenhouse gas emissions caused or strengthened the storm, and therefore damaged the plaintiffs. The district court dismissed the suit, determining that under the political question doctrine, issues concerning the level of greenhouse gas emissions should not be determined by the courts, but rather by the executive and legislative branches of government. The court also found that the plaintiffs lacked Article III standing to assert these claims. Plaintiffs appealed the dismissal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and in an unusual turn of events, an en banc panel of the Fifth Circuit dismissed the appeal. The Butler Snow team was led by Kenneth W. Barton and Benjamin M. Watson.
Commercial Litigation Group
Chemical Exposure
Mississippi – Shortly before trial in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Butler Snow obtained favorable rulings that excluded the plaintiff’s causation expert and granted a motion for summary judgment on behalf of Varn International, Inc. In this wrongful death action, the heirs of a woman who died from leukemia blamed her illness and death on exposure to a cleaning product that allegedly contained benzene. There was no evidence showing that the product contained benzene. Also, the plaintiff did not offer sufficient evidence to demonstrate that benzene could cause the particular type of leukemia from which the plaintiff died, nor was there any proof that the plaintiff received a toxic exposure of the product in question. The Butler Snow team was led by Kenneth W. Barton, James H. Bolin and Mark A. Dreher.