Success for Our Business Client

On Thursday of last week we obtained a $97,000 verdict for a client of ours in their difficult attempt to get paid on a long-outstanding invoice. This client performed an extensive and valuable service for a customer who had gotten himself in a very difficult personal and financial situation. The customer consistently created management problems for our client – which caused our client to have to deal (at times) with this particular client on a daily basis. Our client provided monthly invoices to the customer, and, for reasons associated with its concern for the client, let the invoices go somewhat unpaid until after our client had completed its obligations under the contract. Our client’s customer refused to pay the balance due under the contract, and our client made a large number of out-of-court attempts to get the balance paid. Longtime personal relationships were affected, and our client, in some large measure, was personally insulted that the customer would not pay as the customer was obligated to do. At trial, the customer claimed (for the first time) that he had problems with the invoices that were regularly generated by our client. He also refused to acknowledge that many of the extra charges that were contained on the invoices were created by his conduct during the course of the performance of the contract. In short, he just didn't want to pay the balance due – despite the fact that he was a rather wealthy man. After the verdict, his lawyer claimed that he was going to appeal the verdict of the jury.

The verdict was both an economic and personal victory for the client. The defense in the case consisted of a bogus and personal attack on the integrity of our client’s work, so this verdict was in many ways equally about the client’s dignity as it was about the money.

This one felt good.