After a three week trial in Washington, DC, Preti Flaherty prevailed
before a panel of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association in
Washington, D.C., to win a binding arbitration award for its client, Kingspan
Group plc. and Kingspan Holdings US Inc., of more than $40 million. Kingspan is
a publicly traded company based in Ireland.
The Preti team led by Jon Piper,
with assistance from Greg Hansel, Sig Schutz, Jon Mermin and Nicole Moss
convinced the panel that Daniel R. Baker and other sellers of Tate Global
Corporation were liable for breach of contract, common law fraud and federal and
Pennsylvania securities law violations in connection with the sale of the stock
of Tate to Kingspan in January 2001.
“We are delighted that the binding arbitration case has been resolved in our
favor, and feel that the result vindicates the decision to proceed with the
case,” said Eugene Murtagh, Chairman and CEO of Kingspan.
The award is believed to be one of the largest contested litigation awards in
Maine’s history. Mr. Piper and his colleagues employed “cyber-sleuthing” tactics
in the case, which included reviewing some 10,000 email messages and uncovering
other key information. Mr. Baker was represented by Piper Rudnick, a large firm
based out of Baltimore.
Preti Flaherty has offices in Portland, Bath and Augusta, Maine, and Concord, NH. With more than 70 attorneys, the firm counsels clients in the areas of business law, energy, environmental, estate planning, health care, intellectual property, labor and employment, legislative and regulatory, litigation, technology and telecommunications.
