Shareholder Disputes Case Study 2

The problem

Bell Lax acted for an internationally acclaimed company that fallen out with one of its directors. The company said that the director had stolen its ideas and stock and set up in competition. The company wanted to get on with business and so, rather than sue the director, simply dismissed him.

The former director then sued the company, alleging that it had stolen his ideas. As well as badmouthing the company at several international conventions, the former director had the temerity to sue the company’s directors for defamation when they told the truth about his actions.

The solution

The former director wanted to take the company to court and was not prepared to negotiate at all. During hard fought litigation, Bell Lax built up a portfolio of evidence against the former director that showed that his claims were spurious and spiteful. The former director wrongly believed that Bell Lax’s clients would give up and pay him substantial sums of money rather than go to court.

Bell Lax’s clients went to court. Thanks to Bell Lax’s research and preparation, the director gave up part way through the trial. He then agreed to withdraw all of his other claims against the company, to stop competing with them and to stop badmouthing them.