Below is a selection of cases and transactions demonstrating some of the results we have obtained on behalf of our clients.
In an interlocutory appeal, John Castillo and Patricia Miller obtained a reversal of the trial court's order denying a client's special appearance in a complicated oil and gas lawsuit. The court of appeals agreed that the plaintiff failed to plead sufficient facts and satisfy the due process test to confer specific jurisdiction on the client.
In Jennifer Armour v. Beyoncé Knowles, -- F.3d -- , (5th Cir. 2007), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the summary judgment obtained by Hank Fasthoff dismissing a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against Beyoncé Knowles and the co-writers of "Baby Boy," among others. The plaintiff, a singer-songwriter based in Minneapolis, alleged that her manager submitted demos of her song to people believed to be affiliated with Beyoncé, and that she copied portions of the song in her number one, Grammy Award-winning song "Baby Boy." Mr. Fasthoff filed a motion for summary judgment urging numerous dispositive grounds, one of which was that no properly instructed reasonable jury could conclude from a side-by-side comparison of the two songs that "Baby Boy" was "substantially similar" to the plaintiff's song. The district court agreed, noting that the two songs were "substantially dissimilar," and entered judgment dismissing the plaintiff's claim.
In TWR Lighting, Inc., et al v. TWR Family of Companies, L.L.C., a trademark infringement case brought by a firm client in the aviation obstruction lighting industry, Fred W. Stumpf and Hank Fasthoff obtained a permanent injunction against the client's former president who started competing domestic and foreign companies using the client's trademarks, trade dress, and trade secrets. Among other issues, the case involved questions of personal jurisdiction over a Mexican corporate defendant and the extraterritorial application of the Lanham Act. The injunction was issued against the domestic and foreign defendants.
Clayton C. Cannon and Hank Fasthoff obtained summary judgment in favor of defendant client in a case where an individual plaintiff sought to enforce causes of action owned by a defunct corporation. Applying Illinois law, which governed the case, the court ruled that the individual plaintiff did not have standing to enforce claims owned by defunct corporation.
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