Business Litigation

The lawyers at Lillis Pitha LLP represent clients in matters requiring both extensive courtroom experience and the ability to resolve cases through sophisticated law and motion practice. We represent clients in all manner of business disputes, including cases involving the alleged breach of fiduciary duties of corporate officers and directors, allegations of unfair competition, breach of merger and asset purchase agreements, and disputes involving contracts, representations, and misunderstandings between businesses. Our representation extends to trademark, trade secret, and other intellectual property-based claims. Our problem-solving approach and flexible fee arrangements allow the merits of a case, and not the cost of litigating it, to drive the decision to try a case or resolve it before trial.

Recent matters our attorneys have handled include:

• Obtaining a large settlement for clients, during trial, in a case dealing with the fraudulent conveyance of assets.
• Prevailing in multi-day binding arbitration, and actually collecting a six-figure award of damages and attorneys’ fees, in a dispute between the buyer and seller of a business.
• Obtaining a substantial six-figure damages and attorneys’ fees award in a breach of contract case between corporate shareholders, and prevailing on all counterclaims asserted against our clients, in a week-long arbitration involving dozens of witnesses.
• Prevailing on behalf of our clients in multiple published decisions on a variety of subjects, including Simmonds & Narita LLP v. Schreiber, 566 F.Supp.2d 1015 (N.D. Cal. 2008) (concerning venue), and Paulus v. Bob Lynch Ford, 139 Cal.App.4th 659 (2006) (concerning a lawsuit falling under California’s law concerning Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation).
• Obtaining settlements totaling seven figures in cases involving hedge funds and disputes among their owners and executives.
• Successfully defending professional service providers in the fields of insurance brokerage services, accounting, architecture, and financial services against claims for professional negligence and related claims.
• Prevailing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a trademark infringement case dealing with Google’s key-word advertising program, and securing the affirmance of the district court’s denial of a motion for preliminary injunction. (Picture It Sold v. iSold It LLC, 2006 WL 2467552 (9th Cir. Aug. 28, 2006).)
• Successfully defeating a motion for preliminary injunction in a software copyright infringement action, resulting in the quick settlement of case.
• Successfully representing commercial property landowners in lease disputes with tenants, including prevailing at multiple trials on behalf of commercial property landowners in cases concerning breaches of commercial leases and obtained awards of attorneys’ fees.

We represent all forms of businesses and entrepreneurs — publicly-traded corporations, privately-held companies, small businesses, non-profits, and sole proprietors. No matter what form of business dispute our clients face, we help them reach their business goals in an efficient and effective manner without losing sight of our clients’ objectives.