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Representative Cases – Defendant
"The successful trial
lawyer is like the conductor of the orchestra. The conductor does
not carry the instrument or play the music. The success of the symphony,
however, depends upon his direction and sense of timing. In the
same way, the trial lawyer does not create the facts or evidence.
Instead, it is his job to develop and bring the client’s evidence
to life in such a way that it rings true with the jurors."
Products liability
A products liability suit over the manufacture and design of an
extruder that pushed cookie dough through funnels that would decrease
in diameter to the point of producing "chubs" of slice
and bake cookies resulted in MHN being retained to investigate and
defend the manufacturer. The material used to manufacture the funnels
was alleged to be too brittle and the method in which it was seated
in the cylinder of the extruder was alleged to be improper, causing
the material to flake off and contaminate several hundred thousand
chubs of cookies, resulting in damages of more than $1,000,000.00.
Through interviews with employees and investigation into the product
runs and maintenance schedules of the subject extruder, and working
with material scientists and metallurgists, as well as the design
engineers and supervisors involved in the manufacturing process,
McCormick, Hancock and Newton overcame a well-financed opponent
and convinced a jury in Federal Court in Sherman, Texas that there
was no design defect, no manufacturing defect, no marketing defect,
no deceptive trade practices violation and no negligence.
Electrician liability
When an electrician and his company was involved in the electrocution
of a completely innocent plaintiff who was performing work beneath
a double wide trailer being held for sale on a mobile home retail
lot, McCormick , Hancock and Newton was retained to defend the electrician,
investigate the facts surrounding the work performed and compare
it to the forensic evidence of the electrocution. The primary challenge
was to overcome the natural sympathy a jury would feel toward the
surviving wife and child of the deceased. While attempting to connect
the duct work from one side of the trailer to the other side, the
worker, a 37 year old wage earner who was survived by a 4 year old
son, a wife and an adult son, came in contact with the freon line
which was unexpectedly energized, resulting in his electrocution
and consequent death. Representing the electrician and his co-workers
who had together allegedly performed the work that caused the frame
of the trailer and everything that came in contact with it to be
energized, including the freon line, McCormick, Hancock and Newton
set out to disprove negligence, gross negligence, breach of contract
and breach of various violations of the Uniform Building Code and
NEC standards. Overcoming documents indicating that the defendants
had in fact performed the substandard work, the firm convinced a
Fort Bend county jury of no negligence, no gross negligence and
no breach of contract, resulting in complete exoneration of the
client.
Fire
When a commercial building and its contents were completely destroyed
by fire, the total property loss aggregating well into seven figures,
McCormick, Hancock and Newton was retained by the electrical contractor
to investigate and determine cause and origin, examine the scope
of work by the contractor, eliminate other causes of the fire such
as arson and defend the electrician from exposure to the damages
resulting from the blaze. The issues litigated included whether
the cause of the fire was electrical and therefore the fault of
our client who was actively engaged in electrical work on the premises
immediately before the fire or whether the fire was the result of
arson. Thorough investigation revealed evidence of motive and opportunity
for an intentionally set fire and witness accounts placed at issue
the "accidental" and "negligent" characterization
of the cause of the fire being urged by the plaintiff. Despite the
lack of positive chemistry on debris samples where accelerant sniffing
dogs had alerted, and despite an "undetermined" causal
determination by one fire marshall and an "electrical"
causal determination by another, McCormick, Hancock and Newton persuaded
a Liberty County jury to find the electrical contractor defendant
to be completely without fault.
Defamation, Lanham Act , RICO, Product
Disparagement, Negligence
When a group of successful businessmen from across the country were
identified as parties responsible for disparaging the name and products
of a century old corporation, conspiring to cause it financial harm
and negligently or alternatively intentionally contributing to a
preexisting public relations problem, the well-financed corporate
giant sued seeking $1.8 billion in damages. With trial looming,
MHN was hired to defend the case, which remains pending, awaiting
the 5th Circuit's review of the dismissal of a portion of plaintiff's
claims.
Multi-level marketing, RICO, Fraud,
Texas Bribery Statute,
Sherman Act, Unfair Trade
When disgruntled competitors brought suit against successful businessmen
engaged in a MLM alleging violations RICO, fraud, the Sherman Act,
the Texas Bribery Statute, unfair trade, illegal pyramid operation,
defamation and business disparagement, MHN was hired to defend the
claims, and pursue very real counterclaims on behalf of our clients.
The allegations of the plaintiffs seek recovery of over $200 million
and the case is being litigated, at least initially, through arbitration.
Oilfield Catastrophe
Following the worst on-shore oilfield disaster in American history,
an international oilfield service company was faced with lawsuits
seeking more than $1 billion. When most lawyers said the case could
not be tried because of the many burn deaths involved, the company
called upon MHN to lead its trial team. Contrary to the predictions
of so-called "trial experts", MHN successfully defended
the company, through two jury trials obtaining a judgment absolving
the client from any obligation to pay damages.
Environmental
When litigation demanded the analysis of the migration of pollutants
into the water supplies of southern Louisiana aquifers, MHN was
hired to represent a number of defendants and was ultimately appointed
liaison counsel by the Court on behalf of all of Defendants, and
successfully addressed the issues surrounding the expenses of clean-up
and the proportionate responsibility of potentially responsible
parties (PRPs).
When the water supplies of communities surrounding dumpsites in
Ohio and Texas were allegedly infiltrated by pollutants, MHN was
hired to represent the Defendants and litigate the propriety of
clean-up and proportionate responsibility of the parties involved.
Catastrophic Brain Injury
When a national health corporation was sued for more than $25 million
dollars following a devastating brain injury to a customer, MHN
was hired to take over for another law firm that felt the case was
too dangerous for them to handle. In the trial that followed a year
later, MHN obtained a unanimous verdict exonerating the client from
any responsibility for the Plaintiff's brain injury.
Insurance coverage and claims handling
When a small Houston insurance company was sued by another insurer
over allegedly mishandling a multi-million dollar claim, McCormick,
Hancock & Newton was asked to present its defense. Utilizing
an analogy from his experience as a little league baseball coach,
Dwayne Newton was able to boil down an extremely complex insurance
case into terms the jury could understand and relate to. Against
all pre-trial predictions, MHN was able to convince the jury to
return a verdict that its client had acted prudently in the handling
of the claim. |
