Outlandish, Inc. v. William G. Walker
Published: Jun. 14, 2000 | Result Date: Oct. 5, 1999 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 323904 Verdict – $1,531,400
Judge
Court
Pima Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Merrie Brucks
(technical)
Robert K. Zimmer
(technical)
Defendant
Marc Fleischman
(technical)
Steve Lynn
(technical)
Facts
In February 1986, plaintiff Outlandish Inc. entered into a "Trademark and Trade Secret" licensing agreement with Good Earth Restaurant whereby it licensed from Good Earth the rights to use Good Earth's trademarks, trade name, recipes and the like for a restaurant in Tucson. The restaurant had previously operated as a franchise. In November 1995, Good Earth alleged that Outlandish had breached the agreement and immediately brought suit to enjoin it from using the licensed intellectual property and to declare the Licensing Agreement void. Outlandish retained defendant attorney William J. Walker to represent it in the suit. Good Earth moved for summary judgment. Walker filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, but did not respond to Good Earth's summary judgment motion. The court ruled in favor of Good Earth and enjoined Outlandish from using the Good Earth trademark and tradename. Outlandish was forced to close the restaurant on Dec. 31, 1996, after operating for approximately 17 years. Outlandish brought this action against Walker based on professional negligence theories of recovery. In the legal malpractice case, the court granted summary judgment on proximate cause for Outlandish. Thereafter, Walker stipulated that his actions fell below the standard of care. As a result, the jury trial addressed the issue of damages only.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a settlement demand for $850,000. The defendant made a settlement offer of $500,000.
Damages
Plaintiff Outlandish claimed $1.2 million in damages for property lost due to the defendant's alleged legal malpractice.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately one year and ten months after the case was filed.
Deliberation
two hours
Length
five days
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