Back to Services

Business Disputes

Business Disputes

One of the county’s preeminent firms for complex, high-value business-related disputes, Susman Godfrey handles breach of contract cases and other business disputes for both plaintiffs and defendants. We represent individuals as well as small and large business organizations across a spectrum of industries. As demonstrated by our countless business dispute trial victories, our trial record is well-known and respected throughout the legal industry, and as a result, we’re highly effective at settling cases before or during trial.

  • Google Waymo v. Uber. Represented Uber Technologies in the trade secrets “tech trial of the century” against Google’s self-driving car affiliate, Waymo, which sought almost $2 billion in damages. After being retained just months before trial, the Court granted our motion to strike all of Waymo’s experts’ damages opinions, leaving Waymo with no damages expert for trial. After Susman Godfrey’s public and confidential opening statements, and the presentation of four days of evidence, the case settled favorably. Read more.
  • Jibe Audio v. Beats Electronics. The Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second District ruled in favor of client Steven Lamar and Jibe Audio LLC in a case against Beats Electronics, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine over royalties owed to Lamar from the sales of several models of the popular Beats headphones. The Court reversed the lower court ruling that granted a summary judgment in favor of Beats. The Court remanded the case back to the lower court for trial before a jury who ruled in favor of Lamar, awarding him a verdict valued at over $25 million. The case later settled on confidential terms. Read more.
  • Title Source v. HouseCanary. Achieved an over $700 million jury verdict (fees and expenses not yet determined) for client HouseCanary in a breach of contract and trade secret misappropriation case related to HouseCanary’s innovative real estate valuation technology. After a six-week trial, the jury ruled in favor of Susman Godfrey’s client and against the defendant, Quicken Loans affiliate Title Source. Read more.
  • Diamondback Industries v. Repeat Precision. Obtained a nearly $40 million bench trial judgment for the defendant in a complex contractual dispute. Plaintiff Diamondback Industries sued our client in an attempt to void a patent licensing agreement. Repeat Precision responded with its own counterclaims, including for breach of contract, which we promptly won after a three-day trial. Read more.
  • General Electric Capital v. Nebraska Investment Finance Authority. Obtained a jury verdict valued at more than $100 million for client General Electric Capital, an affiliate of General Electric. The case involved a breach of contract dispute with the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority over how many years an investment contract required GE Capital to pay interest.
  • Wellstat Therapeutics v. BTG International. Won an estimated $70 million at trial ($58 million net of fees) for client Wellstat Therapeutics in a pharmaceutical contract dispute. Wellstat claimed that a distribution agreement between the two parties required that the defendant commercialize and market a life-saving antidote for chemotherapy overdoses for a 10-year period. The Court ruled in favor of Wellstat and rejected the defendant’s claims following a bench trial. Read more.
  • Apache Deepwater v. W&T Offshore. Obtained a more than $43 million trial verdict for client Apache Deepwater, an affiliate of Apache Corporation. After a two-week trial, the jury found that the defendant failed to pay its share of costs associated with abandoning deep-water oil and gas wells. The award is now worth over $49.9 million including pre- and post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees. Read more.
  • Assured Guaranty v. Flagstar Bank. Won an approximately $100 million judgment ($90 million net of fees and expenses) for client Assured Guaranty following a bench trial. The case involved alleged breach of contract by the originator and sponsor of residential mortgage-backed securities. Read more.
  • Olympia Minerals v. Aspect Resources. Won an approximately $90 million judgment for client Olympia Minerals in a bench trial which was later affirmed by the Louisiana Supreme Court. The case involved claims for breach of an oil and gas project agreement as well as trade secrets misappropriation. Read more.
  • Dillard’s v. i2 Technologies. Obtained a $225 million trial verdict on breach of contract, breach of warranty, and fraud claims for Dillard’s. The case later settled for $57 million from which the client received approximately $42.5 million.