Stradling Secures Trial Victory for Publicly Traded Home and Construction Product Company
We secured a complete victory for a publicly traded designer and distributor of home improvement and construction products, following a two week jury trial. After several of the plaintiff’s claims were dismissed pursuant to a motion for directed verdict following presentation of the evidence, the jury was asked to decide whether the CEO orally promised to give plaintiff 7% percent of the outstanding shares of the company two years before its IPO as a reward for plaintiff’s efforts in helping to find investors for the company and for his efforts on what turned out to be a failed “rugged” mobile phone project. Although the plaintiff presented five witnesses who appeared at trial and testified under oath that they heard the CEO of the company represent to potential investors in pitch meetings attended by plaintiff that plaintiff was a “7% percent owner” of the company, we convinced the jury otherwise, resulting in a complete victory for our client.