Business Litigation
Successful business litigation requires that the lawyer understand the client’s business, the business issues and the critical tipping points for the parties within the litigation. This, in turns, requires mastery of the evidence and the law to present the case in the most appealing manner possible and to maximize the chances for a cost effective settlement or to try the case to a winning verdict if a settlement cannot be reached.Representative business litigation engagements within the last four years include:
In Berry College v. North Georgia Forest Products et al, Hine represented the principal of a company who allegedly bribed an officer of the Plaintiff for favorable purchasing decisions involving land and timber. Hine negotiated an immunity agreement for his client and turned over all information regarding the client’s involvement in the transactions to State prosecutors. Hine then defended the civil case which was settled to the mutual satisfaction of the parties. In the course of the civil case, the Plaintiff induced the federal authorities to indict the client, United States v. R. David Bain, 4:06-CR-24, and Hine and Co-Counsel Craig Gillen were successful in getting the federal indictment dismissed based on the State's grant of immunity.
Since 2010, Hine has represented community banks, loss share banks, and The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and has reduced over $40,000,000 in defaulted loans to judgment, and collected more than $4,000,000 from obligor assets outside the collateral package available to the lending bank.
In Shaw Industries, Inc. v. Gaston Systems, Inc., Hine represented the defendant who had sold custom built machinery to the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff sued for recovery of a deposit claiming that the equipment did not perform. Hine removed the case to federal court and counterclaimed for the purchase price. The jury awarded the Defendant a verdict of $270,000, and only $38,000 short of the Defendant’s demand.
In Houser v. Tower Financial Services, Inc. et al , Hine represented the Plaintiff in a lender liability and racketeering suit against a lender who had lent money to a trust for purposes not authorized by the trust. The case was settled with the lender paying $612,500 to resolve the claims against the defendants.
