Securities and Financial Cases

David represented a Bankruptcy Trustee in a long running case (Douglas A. Kelley in Kelley v. BMO Harris Bank, N.A.) that ultimately resulted in a $564 million jury verdict – the largest jury verdict in Minnesota history – at trial in Federal Court in Minnesota. The case arose out of one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history involving Tom Petters. Petters was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison for fraud using accounts held at M&I Bank, which was acquired in 2011 by BMO Harris Bank. The jury found that BMO aided and abetted breaches of fiduciary duty by Petters and his cohorts in using a checking account to launder nearly $74 billion in Ponzi scheme proceeds. The jury awarded $484 million in compensatory damages and nearly $80 million in punitive damages. With the addition of prejudgment interest, the total judgment against the bank increased to over $1 billion. The verdict was eventually overturned on appeal by the Federal Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Represented over a dozen parties in investigations and lawsuits by the SEC and other regulatory bodies without any sanctions being awarded against those parties.

Defended a senior official of a financial services company in an arbitration brought by a former employee. After a lengthy arbitration hearing, the Panel rejected all claims and held that there was no liability.

Represented plaintiffs in an action against Putnam Investment Management for excessive management fees charged to mutual funds. Following extensive discovery, the case was settled on confidential terms.

Represented an ERISA plan against a major Wall Street brokerage firm in an arbitration proceeding before FINRA. The plan sought to reverse more than $46 million of preferred stock purchases in certain government-sponsored entities, alleging that representatives of the brokerage firm had made material false statements regarding subprime loans and asset value. Following a 20-day hearing and closing arguments, the brokerage firm agreed to settle the case on mutually acceptable terms after the panel announced that it had reached a decision and invited the plan to submit a petition for attorneys’ fees.

Represent the trustees of a profit sharing plan against claimed violations of ERISA. The plaintiffs are three plan participants who allege the Trustees breached their fiduciary duties by making impermissible investments.

Intellectual Property Cases

Represented a provider of banking and electronic payment software in an action against MasterCard alleging misappropriation of trade secrets. The case settled after expert discovery, with MasterCard agreeing to purchase a perpetual license.

Represented Veveo, Inc. against Verizon in an action for patent infringement, breach of contract and trade secret violations relating to cable network and internet technology. During discovery, Verizon agreed to settle the matter and license Veveo’s technology.

In a patent infringement case against Samsung, represented Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), alleging that Samsung’s DRAM, SRAM and NAND memory products infringed on various AMD patents relating to memory architecture, processor micro-architecture, and MOS-transistor fabrication and design.
After three years of intense litigation, the case settled shortly before trial.

Represented DE Technologies in a patent infringement action against Dell relating to the use of web sites to facilitate international transactions. The case was settled after summary judgment motions and prior to trial, with Dell agreeing to take paid-up license under the patents-in-suit.

Represented a major manufacturer of printers in litigation against a Japanese importer for patent infringement. The case was settled during the discovery phase.

Represent Skyworks Solutions, Inc., a semiconductor manufacturer, in litigation against Kinetic Technologies, Inc. for infringing patents relating to interfaces for power ICs.

Other Cases

ACE American Insurance Co. v. Riley Brothers: Won jury verdict and post-trial assessment of additional damages, affirmed on appeal in July 2016, resulting in judgment and settlements for client in excess of $4.6 million to date.