Business Disputes
HCM represents companies and people in the business world facing disputes over their businesses, often where control of a business or money is at stake, or where a competitor, customer, employee or employer is violating a contract or breaking a law. When it is in our client’s interest, we will fight all the way through trial, and have done so successfully. Usually we are able obtain positive results for our clients short of trial.
Many of our cases are in federal and state court in Virginia – including on the “Rocket Docket” of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, and in Fairfax Circuit Court and Alexandria Circuit Court. We also frequently represent our clients in other courts in the greater Washington, D.C. area, and in arbitrations and mediations throughout the country.
Generally speaking, you may want to call us to find out if we can help if:
You believe that your business partners or associates are doing things to hurt your company and should be stopped.
You have been accused by your business partners or associates of acting against your company’s interest and/or violating fiduciary duties.
The other party to a business agreement is not living up to it – by, for example, failing to pay money owed or delivering goods or services as promised.
Your company has been accused of breaching a contract, violating an agreement or committing fraud.
Your competitor is hiring away your company’s employees, stealing clients or using confidential information or trade secrets to hurt your company’s business and gain an unfair advantage in your industry.
You have been accused of violating non-compete, non-solicitation or similar agreements, or of tortiously interfering with agreements or relationships, or of violating trade secrets laws and laws against computer fraud and abuse.
Recent representative cases (please see our disclaimer) include:
On behalf of a legal services company that was owed money by a former customer, we defeated an emergency motion brought in federal court by the customer. If the customer had prevailed our client would have been deprived of collateral securing payment for the customer’s outstanding invoices. The case involved complex and novel issues of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). Defeating the motion paved the way to a favorable settlement.
We represented a telecommunications entrepreneur and executive based overseas through a hard-fought trial and appeal in Virginia state court. The case involved allegations of business conspiracy and theft of trade secrets. Ultimately, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in our client’s favor that the opposing parties (also based overseas) were prohibited from pursuing their alleged claims against our client in the Virginia court system due to their failure to register their businesses with the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
We represented the co-founder of a political consulting company who left the company he founded to form a new one and was accused by his former business partners of stealing confidential information and using it to the advantage of his new company. After defeating multiple motions brought against our client in Virginia state court by his former business partners, the case was dismissed.
We represented a start-up software company that was sued by a former executive in federal court for allegedly violating an agreement to compensate him with an equity interest in the company. After having several of the counts dismissed and obtaining sanctions against the former executive for discovery violations, the case was dismissed.
We represented a business executive who was sued in Virginia state court by a former business partner over a land deal in India. The court granted the motion to dismiss we filed on our client’s behalf, contending that the case did not have sufficient connection to the jurisdiction to be litigated there.