Cases

Examples of cases that Mr. Fish has assisted clients with include the following:

Shareholder Litigation

A former shareholder of an Illinois corporation retained The Fish Law Firm, P.C. after creditors of the company sought to "pierce the corporate veil" by suing him, and two other shareholders of the same company, for fraud in DuPage County, Illinois. Mr. Fish's client was dismissed from the case, with prejudice, a few months before trial was scheduled. However, the remaining shareholder defendants (who were not Fish Law Firm clients) were unsuccessful in having the cases dismissed. (CAE Management, Inc. v. Fox Valley Investments, LLC, Judge Wheaton, DuPage County, December 2007)

Intellectual Property Litigation

Our client sued a large publishing company alleging it published a book containing our client’s intellectual property without her permission. The lawsuit sought a finding that our client was a co-author of the book under the Copyright Act since she had contributed to writing portions of the book. The lawsuit also sought damages for violating our client’s Right of Publicity which is a legal theory that recognizes that the right to control and to choose whether and how to use an individual's identity for commercial purposes is a valuable legal right. A confidential settlement was reached with the publisher. (Judge Leinenweber, Chicago, Illinois 2009)

The Fish Law Firm handles intellectual property disputes that arise out of Internet use. For example, after learning that their trademarks were registered as someone else's domain name, two clients hired the Fish Law Firm to win back the domain names. Rulings recently obtained on behalf of the 13th largest bank headquartered in Illinois and for a marketing company were obtained in highly expedited arbitration proceedings.

Business Disputes

We were retained by two business brokers in Argentina after the leasing company/seller of a nearly $2 million airplane refused to honor an oral commission agreement. The airplane--which was housed at the Aurora Municipal Airport in Aurora, Illinois--was being sold to a large foreign medical company from Argentina. We filed a lawsuit against the Illinois seller/leasing company in the Circuit Court of Kane County, Illinois. Within months of filing suit, an outstanding settlement was reached for our clients. (Judge Brawka, Kane County, Illinois, 2009)

Class Action/Employment Defense Litigation

The Fish Law Firm, P.C. was retained to defend a Chicago based hotel against a putative class action lawsuit that alleged violations of wage and hour laws, including the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, defamation, and discrimination. Mr. Fish was successful in having the court deny class certification and dismiss all claims brought by two of the class representatives for discovery sanctions. Thereafter, the remaining class representatives agreed to dismiss their claims without being paid any money. The case was dismissed with prejudice within 6 months of Mr. Fish being retained. Vestal v. Wyndham Garden Hotel Chicago O'Hare, et al, 2007 c 2685. (December 2007, Judge Grady, Northern District of Illinois)

Construction Litigation

The Fish Law Firm defended a builder who was sued for fraud and breach of contract in Cook County. The case proceeded to trial. At the close of the plaintiff's case, Mr. Fish obtained a directed finding in favor of his client. As a result, his client was dismissed from the case without any liability whatsoever. (Cook County, Bridgeview, Illinois, Judge Brosnham)

Babe Ruth/Ted Williams Baseball Litigation

Mr. Fish helped represent the daughter of baseball legend Ted Williams to recover a stolen baseball that was autographed by Babe Ruth for Ted Williams. The ball, which was one of Mr. Williams' most prized possessions, was stolen from the Williams' estate 27 years ago and was missing ever since. It then ended up in an Internet auction taking place in Burr Ridge, Illinois. A temporary restraining order was entered in DuPage County, Illinois Chancery Court (Judge Wheaton) enjoining the sale of the baseball and the ball was recovered by Mr. Fish from the auction house the same day the restraining order entered. The ball was promptly returned to the rightful owner and is now on permanent display at the Ted Williams Museum & Hitters Hall of Fame at Tropicana Field. View more details of where to view the ball in person.

The Chicago Sun Times, which was one of the many media sources that covered the case, explained the importance of the baseball:

Baseball legend Ted Williams sought only one autograph during his lifetime: from his hero, Babe Ruth. The baseball that Ruth inscribed more than 60 years ago, "To my pal Ted Williams from Babe Ruth," was one of Williams' prized possessions – until it was stolen from his home in the 1980s. "My dad asked one person for an autograph in his life – it was Babe Ruth, and it was on this ball," said Claudia Williams, Ted's daughter. "I grew up my whole life hearing how my dad met Babe Ruth and got this ball."

This week, the long-missing baseball abruptly surfaced at a Chicago area auction house, prompting Williams to file a lawsuit in DuPage County asking that the ball be returned.

On Thursday, she cried with joy after learning the treasure had been turned over to her attorneys and would soon be in her hands.

Her deepest regret was that her father and her brother, John Henry Williams, died before the stolen family heirloom could be recovered.

"I only wish my dad and brother were here to see it," said Williams, her voice cracking.
(Excerpts from an article in The Chicago Sun Times Dec. 8, 2006 by Dan Rozek)

Investment Loss Litigation

Mr. Fish helped recover millions of dollars for over 2,000 investors (through a derivative lawsuit) who had invested in a limited partnership commodities fund. The fiduciaries responsible for the limited partnership entrusted the investors' money to a company (Refco) who ended up filing for bankruptcy after its officers had allegedly misappropriated assets. As a result of the bankruptcy filing, Mr. Fish's clients were unable to access their money. After approximately one year of Federal court litigation, a settlement was reached that provided an approximately $5,000,000 benefit to the 2,000 limited partners. In March 2007, Judge Wayne Anderson (Federal Court, Chicago, Illinois) entered final approval of the settlement. (Franzen vs. IDS Managed Futures)

Read the Settlement

Defamation/Slander Litigation

Mr. Fish defended Media Matters for America (a well-known web-based progressive research and information center) and popular author David Brock against allegations of defamation, invasion of privacy, and false light in a lawsuit brought by a journalist. Mr. Fish’s clients removed the case from the Circuit Court of DuPage County (Wheaton, Illinois) to the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago and filed motions asking that the lawsuit be dismissed in its entirety. Within 60 days of the lawsuit’s filing, Federal Judge Blanche M. Manning dismissed the case with prejudice.

Unfair Competition Litigation

In the Northern District of Illinois, Mr. Fish helped win a $2.35 million jury verdict in his Orland Park, Illinois client's favor on all counts in a commercial bribery/anti-trust/trade defamation case brought on behalf of a local family run business in the protective film industry. The lawsuit was filed after our client discovered that one of its main competitors was "dumpster diving" to obtain valuable customer and sales information from the dumpster behind its corporate headquarters. The case, featured in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and the Chicago Daily Herald, alleged counts under the Robinson-Patman Act (bribery), Illinois Deceptive Trade Practices Act (defamation), as well as common law tortious interference and commercial defamation. In addition to awarding compensatory damages, the jury also assessed $635,000 in punitive damages.

Defense Litigation

The Fish Law Firm defended a lawyer who was sued by the Elgin Riverboat Casino in Kane County. The Casino sought monetary damages and a contempt finding against the lawyer for his role in handling money as a trustee. Relying in part upon a 100 + year old United States Supreme Court case (Barton v. Barbour, 104 U.S. 126 (1881)), Mr. Fish was able to get the litigation dismissed with prejudice--and the Casino was obligated to reimburse Mr. Fish's client for the out of pocket attorney fees and costs he incurred in defending the lawsuit. (Kane County, Geneva Illinois; Judge Larson)

Spyware Class Action

Mr. Fish filed a consumer class action lawsuit against an advertising company (Direct Revenue) who allegedly installed software on computers without obtaining consent from consumers. A landmark injunctive settlement agreement was reached in the case which was characterized by Bureau of National Affairs as "reforms to ease the burden on consumers." The lawsuit was covered or mentioned by USA Today, Legal Newsline, Newsweek, The Chicago Tribune, The Daily Herald, The Daily Southtown, MediaPost, Adotas, The Washington Post, The New York Law Journal, and others. Sotelo v. DirectRevenue, LLC, 384 F.Supp.2d 1219, (N. D. Ill., August 29, 2005)

Civil Rights Litigation

Mr. Fish helped defend, during a jury trial, two police officers who were accused of violating the civil rights of the plaintiff. After deliberating for only a few hours, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Mr. Fish's clients. (Northern District of Illinois, Judge Hibbler; Cesal v. Mitchel)

Zoning and Land Use Litigation

Mr. Fish helped represent an Illinois municipality in an approximately week-long trial seeking an injunction against municipal zoning violations by a business. Mr. Fish's client prevailed at trial. (Cook County Chancery Court, Judge Siebel)

Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Minority Shareholder Litigation

In helping to defend a $9 million shareholder derivative lawsuit in DuPage County, Mr. Fish achieved a complete defense victory as the 14 plaintiffs dismissed their lawsuit without his clients paying anything. The lawsuit alleged our client had: looted the company of assets, committed fraud in obtaining investors, and violated minority shareholders' rights by oppressively operating the corporation. (DuPage County, Judge Popejoy, 2005)

In 2007, Mr. Fish helped recover $1.3 million on behalf of a group of minority shareholders of a community bank in Harvard, Illinois. The lawsuit alleged that certain directors of the bank had breached their fiduciary duties to a class of shareholders when the bank converted from being a subchapter C to a subchapter S corporation. The case was filed in the Northern District of Illinois and the Honorable Judge Joan F. Lefkow appointed David Fish to serve as co-lead Class Counsel for the minority shareholders who were forced to sell their stock. See Shearon v. Harvard Bancshares, et al, 240 F.R.D. 383 (N.D. Ill. 2006)

The Fish Law Firm defended an Illinois corporation after one of its former officers (who owned 49% of its stock) sued for breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, violations of ERISA, seeking the payment of dividends, and requesting dissolution. The lawsuit settled on very favorable terms shortly after we filed a counterclaim alleging that the 49% owner had breached his fiduciary duties by: engaging in a ghost payroll scheme by paying himself when he did not show up to work, used company assets for personal expenses, stole company equipment, and committed negligence by neglecting his duties when he was employed. (August 2008, Judge Popejoy, DuPage County, Illinois)

We recently represented an architect (who was a minority shareholder of large DuPage County architectural and design firm) in a dispute against his long-time business partners. The lawsuit alleged that the corporation’s other shareholders had unlawfully worked with the company’s lawyers to force our client out of the architectural firm, unlawfully reduced our client’s compensation by approximately 90%, and were otherwise oppressing him in his ability to perform his job. After approximately one year of litigation (which alleged fraud and breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract), the case settled on very favorable terms to our client. (DuPage County, Illinois, Judge Popejoy, 2009)

Click here for our July 2008 Newsletter about minority shareholder rights

Federal Racketeering Litigation

Mr. Fish helped defend a Naperville, Illinois corporate client who was accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and breaching fiduciary duties. The plaintiff in the case actually ended up agreeing to pay Mr. Fish's client money when the case was resolved. (Northern District of Illinois, Judge Gettleman, 2005)

Trade Secret and Intellectual Property Litigation

Mr. Fish helped defend a national marketing company headquartered in Naperville in the Northern District of California in a trademark, copyright, and trade secret infringement case where the plaintiff sought millions of dollars. Mr. Fish successfully prevented the entry of a temporary restraining order. After detailed discovery, the court also refused to enter a preliminary injunction. Ultimately, the case settled without our client paying a penny to the plaintiff and without any interruption in our client's business. The case was resolved in less than 6 months.

Arbitrations

We regularly represent parties in mediations and arbitrations. We have litigated before the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the the International Centre For Dispute Resolution based in New York, the National Arbitration Forum, and in other forums. Mr. Fish is also a trained arbitrator and is available to serve as a court-appointed arbitrator in Cook and Dupage Counties. He also has volunteered and served on an arbitration panel as part of the DuPage County Professional Resposibility committee's program for disptues between lawyers and clients over attorney fees.

Injunction and Non Compete Litigation

Mr. Fish successfully obtained a temporary restraining order in favor of his client, a national trucking company, against the violation of a non-compete agreement by one of its former retailers. Mr. Fish has been involved in many non-compete lawsuits. (Northern District of Illinois, Judge Pallmeyer).

Municipal Litigation

Mr. Fish helped obtain summary judgment in favor of an Illinois municipality in two separately filed lawsuits that alleged his client deprived the plaintiffs of due process in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, violated the United States and Illinois Constitutions' takings clauses, and committed trespass and conversion, when they demolished a number of buildings owned by the plaintiffs. (Northern District of Illinois, Judges Castillo and Kennelly)

Employment Litigation

The Fish Law Firm represented the former chief financial officer of an Oswego, Illinois company. The lawsuit alleged that the company owed the former chief financial officer hundreds of thousands of dollars because it refused to honor a one sentence severance provision in an employment contract and had also refused to repay a promissory note. Accordingly, claims were brought for breach of contract and violations of the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. The lawsuit was settled shortly after the lawsuit was filed. (Kendall County, Yorkville, Illinois, Judge McCann, February 2008)

Inheritance Disputes

After our client’s brother refused to carry out their mother’s express intent in her Will and trust to have her children split property equally, we were retained to enforce the mother’s Will. For years, our client’s brother had unilaterally used and benefited from valuable Dupage County real estate and refused to distribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to our clients which were invested in high risk securities. We filed suit in the Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois to enforce the mother’s wishes and filed an emergency motion to have our client’s brother removed as the trustee of the estate. Shortly thereafter, the securities were released to our client and he was paid for his interest in the mother’s real estate. (Judge Wheaton, DuPage County, Illinois)