Business and Commercial Litigation
Stetler, Duffy & Rotert, Ltd. represents plaintiffs and defendants involved in business disputes of all kinds, including breach of contract, unfair competition, commercial fraud, securities class actions, insolvency, and wrongful termination. We regularly practice in federal and state courts throughout the country. The attorneys at SDR also have extensive experience in various forms of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration.
REPRESENTATIVE CASES
A group of franchise owners in California faced civil claims in excess of $25 million in damages. SDR’s lawyers fought those claims in a six-month jury trial in an Orange County courtroom. Our trial lawyers not only defeated the claims, they won over $2 million in claims filed on behalf of our clients. Clairis, et al. v. Americair, et al.
SDR was engaged as special counsel for the bankruptcy trustee to a defunct management company operating a group of restaurants owned by two individuals. The management company had guaranteed the leases for numerous restaurants owned by the two individuals. When some of the restaurants went out of business the landlords looked to the management company for payment of all amounts due under the leases. The two individuals, together with their lawyers and accountants, schemed to transfer all of the management company’s assets to a new management company. SDR unraveled the scheme, sued the culpable parties and collected approximately $9 million for the estate, which led to a substantial recovery for the creditors. In re: Restaurant Development Group, Inc.
SDR represented a local wholesale jeweler victimized by fraud. One of the jeweler’s clients staged a “robbery” of his inventory in an effort to defraud our client from collecting on his receivables. SDR aggressively investigated the case and exposed the fraud, eventually entering into a confidential settlement that required defendants to turn over to SDR’s client the fruits of the fraud.
SDR frequently represents corporate executives or other professionals immersed in disputes about termination, non-compete agreements, and other compensation related issues. Where possible, these disputes are resolved through negotiated confidential agreements, but if necessary SDR lawyers are prepared to litigate to vindicate their clients’ rights. See, e.g., Cua v. CorSolution Medical, Inc.
A major Chicago manufacturing company hired SDR to pursue its claims for breach of contract after it received defective equipment from its supplier. SDR filed suit, pursued discovery and tried the case to a Chicago jury, winning all the damages claimed in its complaint. Jefferson Smurfit Corporation v. CDL Technology, Inc., et al.
In uncertain economic times, insolvency cases frequently trigger litigation. When creditors try to collect on the debts of insolvent corporations by pursuing individual investors and principals, SDR defends the separation between corporate and personal interests. In other cases, SDR lawyers have been engaged by bankruptcy trustees to pursue transfers of corporate wealth that jeopardize the interests of creditors.