Overview

For each matter, our litigators work with a transactional colleague to develop the most insightful argument to resolve the dispute. When disputes arise from technology transactions, our technology lawyers quickly mobilize to provide advice and advocacy that, in many cases, resolves the dispute through negotiation or mediation, often preserving the working relationship between the parties. In addition, we have extensive experience litigating those disputes in court and before arbitration panels.

That experience includes addressing issues such as material breach, termination rights, limitations on liability, the failure of essential purpose doctrine, allocation and scope of intellectual property rights, licenses and copyright protection, responsibility for defining and implementing customer requirements, conditions precedent to continued performance, modification and waiver through course of performance, software testing and acceptance procedures, definition of scope of services, notice of breach, and opportunity to cure.

For each matter, our litigation team includes a technology transactions lawyer because understanding the context of the contract, the technology, and industry practices allows litigators to develop more insightful—and, thus, more successful— analyses and arguments in resolving disputes.

Experience

Represented an international technology consulting firm in resolving a dispute with a customer in the steel industry concerning alleged failure to develop and implement a new SAP ERP system that met customer’s special requirements. The matter focused on standards for determining material breach and limitations on damages.
Represented an international technology consulting firm in resolving numerous disputes with a customer in the steel industry under an outsourcing agreement. Assisted the client in comprehensively revising the agreement to minimize and to resolve more quickly and cost effectively future disputes.
Represented an international technology consulting firm in terminating services to a customer that had filed for bankruptcy protection.
Represented a technology consulting firm in resolving a dispute with a customer in the medical diagnostic device industry. The matter was successfully settled on the eve of mediation.

Represented a software development company in resolving a dispute with a customer concerning the development and implementation of a custom database.
Represented a telecommunications company in a mediation with an international technology company addressing the parties’ respective staffing obligations and tasks under a subcontract.
Represented a law firm in an arbitration against a software development company arising from the failure of a new billing and accounting system to meet the customer’s requirements. Obtained an award establishing the software development company’s liability for breach of contract and ordering payment of the maximum amount of damages up to the contractual damage cap.
Represented a major financial institution in resolving multiple disputes with technology outsourcing service through written and in-person presentations on the merits. The disputes concerned scope of services, failure to meet milestones and grounds for terminating for material breach.
Represented a software development company in resolving disputes with a customer in the travel reservation industry. Averted a threatened lawsuit and resolved the dispute on a mutual walk-away basis leveraging the software development company’s intellectual property rights in the work product at issue, which the customer still needed for its business.
Represented a major financial institution in terminating an outsourcing agreement and addressing the service provider’s threatened termination of copyright license and refusal to provide transition services. Prepared written presentations, participated in live negotiations and prepared a complaint for preliminary injunction before the service provider agreed to a reasonable settlement.
Represented a medical center in resolving a lawsuit filed by a website developer enabling the medical center to terminate the agreement and work with a new provider.
Represented a Mexican manufacturer in resolving multiple disputes with a technology outsourcing service provider through written presentations and private negotiation. In one instance, persuaded the service provider to drop a $4 million claim through written presentations without litigation.
Represented a manufacturer of food products in resolving disputes with an outsourcing service provider concerning the scope of services and the responsibility for missed milestones.
Represented a food company in terminating agreements with a software development company and working with another software development company to address requirements while avoiding copyright and other intellectual property claims from the terminated provider.
Represented a food company in assessing responsibility for scalability problems and whether the customer had sufficient grounds to terminate the outsourcing service provider for material breach.
Represented a healthcare products wholesaler in a dispute with an international technology company concerning an audit of software license fees.
Advised an insurance company concerning the scope of a software license and whether third party service providers were authorized to use the software.
Advised an insurance company concerning whether it had sufficient grounds for terminating an outsourcing service provider for cause and related liability risks.
Represented a subcontractor in dispute with the prime contractor as to liability for alleged delays in completing software development for the ultimate customer. The matter was resolved without litigation based on analysis and presentations on merits.
Representing an insurer in assessing the strength of claims and in preparing a demand letter sent to a software developer demanding compensation for the cost of remediating defective work performed on a time and materials basis.
Representing a medical center in a dispute with an outsourcing service provider concerning the payment of invoices for services that the medical center attempted to terminate before the services were provided.
Representing a software developer in a mediation concerning the customer’s refusal to pay invoices for completed work.
Advised several companies on the appropriate terms for international arbitration provisions and developed a procedure for the expedited arbitration of lower-dollar-value disputes.
Represented a telecommunications company as a respondent in an ICC arbitration matter involving breach of contract to provide communication satellite capacity.