Commercial Litigation
lady Gaga Finder’s Fee Action
Our largest jury verdict was $7.3 million, obtained in a breach of contract action. We represented a songwriter, Wendy Starland, who sued defendant Robert Fusari, a well-known music producer, to enforce their oral agreement involving the artist who became known as Lady Gaga. Mr. Fusari had promised Ms. Starland that if she brought him a certain type of singer, they would work together to develop the singer, and split any revenue generated from the singer's project 50/50.
Ms. Starland went on to discover the artist that would ultimately become Lady Gaga, but Mr. Fusari refused to honor their oral contract. The jury awarded Ms. Starland over $7.3 million dollars as a result of Mr. Fusari’s breach of his oral agreement and breach of fiduciary duty. The trial concluded in November 2014. Post-trial, the Court concluded that it improperly admitted eight words of deposition testimony, and vacated the verdict. The parties reached a settlement in bankruptcy court while a new trial was pending.
Breach of international supply agreement
We obtained a jury verdict of $6.6 million, in an action involving the representation of a Hong Kong manufacturer in a complex commercial action. We continued to represent the manufacturer through three successful appeals to the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and increased the amount of that judgment by over $1.5 million. The action concluded in February 2009.