Case Results | Insurance Litigation

Case Results

We have a history of success in and out of the courtroom.

[redacted] Life Insurance Company v. Costello

After a nearly one-week long trial, a Jefferson County jury handed down a $113.85M verdict against [redacted]  in a trial involving an unpaid life insurance policy for Daly & Black’s client Johnny Costello.  Mr. Costello brought claims of breach of contract, statutory bad faith, and breach of common law duty of good faith and fair dealing. [redacted] wrongfully denied Mr. Costello’s $500,000 life insurance claim after his wife passed away in 2003. After nearly two decades of fighting, Mr. Costello finally received justice.

*The case settled confidentially after a judgment of approximately $16,500,000 was entered by the Court.*

Trafalgar Holdings, L.P. v. Diamond Shamrock, Inc.

Represented Plaintiff on a contingent basis in a case concerning the release of gasoline from Defendant’s underground gasoline storage tanks under the property of Plaintiff’s apartment complex. Plaintiff complained that even though the MTBE levels were within those accepted by the TNRCC, it stigmatized Plaintiff’s property, thereby significantly dropping its value. Case settled for a confidential, but seven figure amount on the eve of trial.

Twelfth Sight, Ltd. v. Boyd Page & Assoc., et. al

Represented Plaintiff on a contingent basis in a case concerning Defendants’ breach of fiduciary duty while acting as Plaintiff’s real estate broker. In the course of showing Plaintiff property in downtown Houston for lease, Defendants failed to disclose that the property Plaintiff would lease on Main Street would be subsumed by construction for several years as the MetroRail was being built. Case settled on the eve of trial for multiples of the amount Plaintiff was willing to accept.

Shor et. al v. The Zephyrus Corporation

After a three-day jury trial in Corpus Christi, Texas, we obtained a unanimous federal jury verdict in favor of our clients, Toby Shor and the Seashore Investments Management Trust, in a constructive trust suit involving the fraudulent purchase and acquisition of a luxury sport fishing yacht. It took the jury less than two hours to find that Paul Black had engaged in fraud and breach of fiduciary duty when acquiring the luxury yacht, which was ultimately placed in Marshall Islands company that was transferred to his father, James Black. In rendering its verdict, the jury answered all issues submitted in favor of our clients.

In fact, the only question the jury had of our client while deliberating the matter was whether they could also award her money damages.

Huntsman Corporation v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA), L.L.C. et. al

Assisted in the representation of Plaintiff Huntsman against Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank in connection with the failure to fund a $15 billion merger between Huntsman and Hexion, of Columbus, Ohio. The litigation was resolved during trial for a record-setting $1.7 billion of value to our client.

SWEP v. ASAP Masonry

Represented the defendant in a breach of contract, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit that involved a family’s fireplace surround business. After a two-week jury trial, we defeated all of the plaintiff’s claims, and obtained a verdict in our client’s favor – on several of our affirmative counterclaims – in excess of $600,000.

Willis Group, LLC and Seis-Strat Services, L.L.C. v. Antares Enterprises, L.P. et. al

Represented Claimant in arbitration after client had been sued in state court for failure to pay damages that were alleged to be approximately $1 million. The damages arose out of Willis Group’s acquisition Seis Strat, and an earn out the seller had negotiated. Willis Group alleged that the company’s condition was not as seller had represented it. After successfully moving the case to arbitration, the matter was litigated over the course of several weeks. Ultimately, our client was awarded damages with a value of approximately $1.4 million and the original Plaintiff in state court was awarded nothing.

Greenfield Energy, Inc. et. al v. EOG Resources, Inc. et. al

Handled international oil and gas contract dispute over Trinidadian oil and gas field for Canadian company against group of Trinidadian companies and Houston oil and gas major, with damages estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Clients obtained a confidential settlement from all Defendants, including a handful of businesses that are located and operate in Trinidad.

Matthew Minnis and Cullen 130 LLC v. Citrin Holdings LLC and Jacob Citrin, Case No. 2006-78939

After a three-week jury trial, John Black and his former partner Jean Frizzell obtained a unanimous jury verdict in favor of our clients Matthew Minnis and Cullen 130 L.L.C. against Jacob Citrin and Citrin Holdings L.L.C. in a suit involving the breakup of their partnership to develop and own air and sea cargo facilities across the United States. The jury awarded our clients more than $29 million in actual damages and $14 million in punitive damages. The parties will be trying the issue of attorneys’ fees to the Court in the near future. In March of 2007, Mr. Citrin dissolved the limited liability companies formed pursuant to his partnership with Mr. Minnis, but did not liquidate or distribute any of the assets or proceeds to Mr. Minnis or Cullen 130. Defendants denied the existence of any partnership and all other claims. The jury found for our clients on all claims, including the existence of the partnership, and found the defendants liable for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, breach of partnership agreement, conspiracy, aiding and abetting and malice.

Toby Shor and Seashore Investments v. PBF Investments, Ltd; Paul Black, BNP Holdings, Ltd; BNP Commercial Properties: AAA

After a two week arbitration hearing, John Black and his former partners Jean Frizzell and Jeremy Doyle obtained an award in favor of our clients Toby Shor and the Seashore Investments Management Trust against PBF Investments, Inc, Paul Black, and a number of related entities, in a dispute involving jointly-owned oil and gas and real estate businesses. A panel of three arbitrators awarded our clients more than $31 million against Mr. Black individually, and more than $26 million against his affiliated entities. The amounts awarded included $5 million of punitive damages against Mr. Black personally, and recovery by our clients of more than $2.5 million of attorneys fees and expenses. The arbitrators ruled in our clients favor on all claims, including claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud. In addition, the arbitrators found that all claims asserted against our clients were without merit. Mr. Black and his entities filed the arbitration and sought more $64 million in damages from our clients on their claims, but were awarded nothing.

The dispute arose out of a ten year business relationship in which our clients were investors in certain oil & gas and real estate businesses operated by Mr. Black. By March 2008 our clients were owed millions of dollars on overdue promissory notes, and began asking questions about why they had not been paid. When Mr. Black failed to provide answers, our clients filed a lawsuit to compel access to information. Mr. Black responded by announcing his intention to terminate the business relationship, and resisted our client’s requests for access to information. As a result of a number of contested hearings, the parties were ordered to engage in discovery. Then, after months of stonewalling and additional hearings, we received information showing that Mr. Black had siphoned millions of dollars from the businesses for his personal use.

In an effort to avoid further court-ordered discovery, and to cast themselves as plaintiffs, Mr. Black and his entities eventually filed the arbitration proceeding, asserted that our clients’ actions and lawsuit had destroyed the businesses, and sought more than $64 million in damages. Our clients filed counterclaims in the arbitration for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud. The resistance to discovery continued throughout the arbitration proceeding, necessitating multiple motions to compel in that forum as well. The case went to final hearing in June 2010.

New Century Financial v. Hisaw Construction Co.

Represented Plaintiff New Century Financial at jury trial in Dallas, Texas in breach of contract case regarding the factoring of certain business invoices. Was hired by co-counsel one week before trial, and after all discovery had been completed. The Jury returned verdict in favor of Plaintiff on all issues and awarded all attorneys fees requested.

In re Friede Goldman Halter, Inc.

Represented Barry J. Galt and other former directors of Halter Marine Group in securities fraud matter arising out of the failed merger of Friede Goldman and Halter Marine. Our clients collectively faced potential exposure in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The matter was successfully resolved as part of a confidential settlement.

Daniel J. O’Hare et al. v. Vulcan Capital, LLC et al.; No. SA-04-CA-566-H (Consolidated) No. SA-07-CA-297-H

In February 2010 John Black and his former partner Jean Frizzell obtained a jury verdict in San Antonio federal court holding two individuals (Kevin C. Davis and Ford Graham) personally liable for fraud and statutory fraud for entering into a settlement agreement with no intention of performing. In October 2004, after litigating a business dispute in San Antonio federal court during temporary injunction proceedings, a settlement was reached. But the settling Defendants did little to honor their contractual obligations and instead spent nearly a year stringing Plaintiffs along; they asked Plaintiffs for more time, claiming they had no money while consistently filing papers in federal court acknowledging the settlement. Ultimately, O’Hare and Stewart sued to enforce the settlement agreement. The Defendants and their new counsel then reversed course entirely. The Defendants, armed with new lawyers, argued that no settlement existed, and alternatively, that the agreement was vague, fraudulently induced, and had conditions O’Hare and Stewart failed to meet. In addition, the Defendants engaged in a campaign intended to discourage any collection efforts undertaken by Plaintiffs and their attorneys; they sought to sanction and disqualify O’Hare’s and Stewart’s lawyers, and filed an entirely new suit in North Carolina, which included as Defendants Stewart’s young son and nephew. The lawyers from our firm fought back— ultimately, Judge Orlando Garcia denied the motions for sanctions and the motion to disqualify, and ordered the North Carolina case to be transferred to San Antonio. Shortly after consolidating the two cases, we filed a motion for summary judgment. The result: Judge Hudspeth dismissed each and every one of the Defendants’ defenses, collectively calling them “remarkable.” In addition, Judge Hudspeth found that the settlement was valid and enforceable, and granted summary judgment on Plaintiffs’ contractual claims of $2,000,000. Therefore, all that remained to be tried was Plaintiffs’ fraud claim. Shortly before the first trial setting in September 2009, Kevin Davis filed personal bankruptcy and sought to have the fraud case litigated in New York as an adversary proceeding. Plaintiffs successfully lifted the stay and persuaded the New York Bankruptcy Court to have the matter litigated in Texas. A new trial setting was scheduled for February 16, 2010. The weekend before trial, the Defendants bankrupted another entity, but we aggressively resisted efforts to further delay the trial. After nearly six years of litigation, trial began. After a three-day trial, the jury returned a verdict for Plaintiffs O’Hare and Stewart in under 90 minutes. The verdict, which found Graham and Davis equally liable for the fraud, included $1,962,000 in actual damages and another $6,000,000 in punitive damages for a total of $7,962,000, which sum is in addition to the $2,000,000 on the summary judgment and fees exceeding $1,000,000.

Garcia, et al v. AR Floor Designs, Inc.

The most recent settlement of an overtime lawsuit. Obtained 100 percent of all amounts owed to Plaintiffs for overtime, plus a statutory penalty of an additional 100 percent of that amount, plus attorney’s fees.

Randall Burroughs, et al. v. Swift Transportation, et. al

Represented Plaintiff in a wrongful death case against multiple trucking companies for the death of a teenage passenger that occurred during a multi-vehicle pileup during a grass fire in the Amarillo area. Obtained a confidential seven-figure settlement.

Abel Rodulpho Esquivel, et al. v. Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., et. al

Represented the remaining Defendant in a negligence case involving 245 Mexican Nationals who were on board a pipe-laying barge that sunk off the Yucatan Peninsula in a hurricane. Plaintiffs were represented by John O’Quinn. The case was tried to a jury in a six-week trial. The jury returned a defense verdict.

Amerisource Funding, Inc. v. ConAgra, Inc.

Represented Plaintiff Amerisource in a breach of contract, Uniform Commercial Code action alleging that Trammell Crow knowingly circumvented security interests of our client, a factoring business. The Defendants asserted that the filing was frivolous. The case settled shortly prior to trial for seven figures.

Charles Fenner v. American Trading and Production, et. al

Represented Defendant in a case where Plaintiff claimed that Defendants contaminated his property with hazardous oil and gas related substances while drilling wells on his land. The Plaintiff sought several million dollars in damages. Case was tried to a jury in a 5-week trial. Jury returned a complete defense verdict.

Insurance and hail claim litigation

Handled multiple claims for individuals who had hail or other insurance claims wrongfully denied or underpaid. In most cases, obtained 100 percent of the amounts owed to the policyholders, as well as expenses and attorney’s fees which were paid completely by the insurance company defendants.

Larry Ryan v. Baker Hughes, Inc.

Represented Defendant in a Jones Act case where Plaintiff sustained a herniated disc while working on Defendant’s ship. Case was tried to a jury. Jury returned a verdict awarding Plaintiff $6,000. The lowest settlement offer prior to that had been $150,000.

Myers v. Energy Resource Technology GOM, Inc.

Obtained a confidential seven-figure settlement for clients for the defendant’s breach of an employment agreement.

Matthew Wiggins v. Landry’s Seafood Co., Inc.

Represented Plaintiff in a case concerning Landry’s failure to build another restaurant along the Kemah Boardwalk, the profits of which Plaintiff would have shared in. After a bench trial on the breach of lease, Landry’s was evicted from the Kemah Boardwalk, and the remainder of the suit settled shortly thereafter in favor of Plaintiff.

McAlester Fuel Co. v. Smith International, Inc.

Represented Defendant Smith International in a case where Plaintiff claimed negligent performance of down-hole services on an oil rig that caused a lost well. The case was tried to a jury, which returned a verdict pouring the plaintiff out and awarding Smith approximately $500,000.00 on its counterclaim for its services and attorney’s fees.

Newfield Exploration v. Texas Iron Works, Inc.

Represented Plaintiff suing Defendant for negligent performance of down-hole services on an oil rig that caused a lost well. Settled the case for a confidential, but multi-million dollar amount well in excess of what Plaintiff was willing to accept.

OmniBank v. Texas Truss, Inc., et. al

Represented Plaintiff in a suit concerning various notes and guarantees signed by Texas Truss and others. Defendants made various lender liability claims. After a bench trial, Plaintiff was awarded a multi-million dollar verdict.

Park Memorial Condo. Assoc. v. Lexington Insurance Co

Represented Plaintiff in a 10-figure insurance claim for the partial collapse of the Park Memorial Condominiums. Settled very favorably for a confidential amount.

Park Memorial Condominium Association v. Primesite, Inc.

Obtained a confidential, seven-figure settlement for the homeowners of the Park Memorial Condominiums for their property manager’s alleged failure to adequately maintain the property, which was subsequently condemned.

Sapphire Condominiums v. Various design professionals and contractors

Obtained a confidential multi-million dollar settlement against design professionals for malpractice.

H.B. Zachry v. ABB Lummus Global

Represented Plaintiff H.B. Zachry in dispute concerning construction costs and delay expenses with respect to the building of $700 million ethylene cracking plant. Following two years of litigation, as Plaintiff we achieved a favorable settlement that remains confidential at the Defendant’s request.

Garcia, et al v. AR Floor Designs, Inc.

The most recent settlement of an overtime lawsuit. Obtained 100 percent of all amounts owed to Plaintiffs for overtime, plus a statutory penalty of an additional 100 percent of that amount, plus attorney’s fees.

DMAC Construction v. Surfside Interests, L.L.C.

Arbitrated construction case arising out of the failure to make payments in connection with client’s construction of a $3 million marina in Surfside, Texas. Our client, the general contractor, was owed in excess of $1 million and was forced to litigate the matter against the owner and architect in both arbitration, and in state court. The arbitrator awarded our client virtually 100% of the damages sought, and dismissed the nearly $2 million of counterclaims asserted by the defendant. In addition, our clients were awarded nearly every penny requested in attorneys’ fees. Prior to the arbitration, we successfully obtained a release of the hundreds of thousands of dollars held as retainage in Brazoria County, Texas.

In re Christopher Sean Byrd

Represented a former Texas state jail inmate on a pro bono basis – Mr. Byrd had been attacked by a guard and was left in a coma for weeks. Without the need of filing suit, we negotiated a settlement approved by the Governor for $1 under the state imposed caps. We refused to take a fee, and successfully negotiated releases of all the client’s medical liens.

Rancho del Austin, L.L.P. v. Panahpour

Represented the general partner responsible for managing a handful of very valuable commercial real estate properties in a lawsuit brought by its limited partner. The suit alleged damages in excess of $20 million. Our client, in turn, asserted its own counterclaims. We successfully defeated the plaintiff’s claims on summary judgment, and were left only with our counterclaims to litigate. As a result, the Court realigned the parties making our client– formerly the defendant– the new plaintiff. The case settled favorably for our client the weekend before trial.

Amerisource Funding, Inc. v. Trammell Crow Corporate Services, Inc.

Represented Plaintiff Amerisource in a breach of contract, Uniform Commercial Code action alleging that Trammell Crow knowingly circumvented security interests of our client, a factoring business. The Defendants asserted that the filing was frivolous. The case settled shortly prior to trial for seven figures.

North Houston International, L.L.C. v. Paine Webber Real Estate Investments, Inc.

Represented Defendant Paine Webber in a breach of contract case arising out of a failed commercial real estate loan transaction. Plaintiff alleged damages in the many millions. Obtained a summary judgment on all counts at the trial court level; and later argued the appeal that upheld the ruling in October 2003.

Union Oil Company of California v. Osprey Petroleum Company

Represented Plaintiff Union Oil Company of California in suit against working interest owner involving claims for payment of joint interest billings, and in defense of counterclaims for fraud, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duties. The client hired our team after another large prominent defense firm had handled the matter for over a year, and was facing trial against a well-known Houston trial lawyer. The clients also faced potential exposure on the counterclaims in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Within months of hiring our team, and following intense discovery, we obtained dismissal of the counterclaims on summary judgment – the ruling coming only a few weeks before trial.

Joe Fogarty et al. v. Daniel I. Barness et. al

Represented the Claimants before the American Arbitration Association. The suit was filed after clients were defrauded at an earlier mediation. After a week-long trial, the Arbitrator found our clients had indeed been defrauded. The award provided client with total relief in the amount of $1.3 million, and the matter was ultimately resolved with a total value to our client of nearly $7 million.

Schlumberger Technology Corporation v. Wood Group ESP, Inc.

Represented Defendant Wood Group ESP in a temporary injunction proceeding before the Honorable Nancy Atlas. Plaintiffs alleged inevitable disclosure of trade secrets. After a four day hearing on the merits in September 2003, following accelerated discovery, the Court ruled in favor of our client on all issues. The case settled favorably for our client thereafter.

Victor L.X. Hall v. Dioncio M. Castillo, et. al

Represented a former state jail inmate on a pro bono basis for injuries he sustained while incarcerated. The allegations included violations of his Constitutional rights as well as battery. The jury deliberated nearly six hours before delivering a defense verdict. After trial, Judge Hittner and his staff singled out Mr. Black and his co-counsel remarking that the defense was among the best he had ever seen in such a case.

Corenegery, LLC et al v. Devon Energy Production Company, L.P.

Represented Plaintiff Corenergy, LLC, a co-owner of an oil & gas prospect, in case against Devon Energy, the other co-owner and operator of the prospect, alleging claims of fraud and breach of contract in connection with the handling of that prospect. After being accused of filing a frivolous suit, we settled the case favorably for the client a few days before trial.

Rogelio Casados, et al., v. Port Elevator-Brownsville, L.C.

Represented Plaintiff in a wrongful death case on behalf of the heirs of a man who died by suffocating under a pile of grain. Obtained a $2.8 million verdict on behalf of the family, the largest verdict ever given in Cameron County in a wrongful death case that did not involve a spouse (the victim was not married).

Cyrus Homes, Inc. v. Michael Christopher

Represented Defendant in a suit concerning Plaintiff’s construction of Defendant’s $1.6 million house. Plaintiff claimed that it was still owed in excess of $300,000.00 for completion and extras. Defendant claimed that he incurred completion costs when Plaintiff failed to complete. The case was tried to a jury. Jury returned a verdict awarding Plaintiff a small sum, but awarding Defendant completion costs, which essentially zeroed out the amount awarded to Plaintiff.