Cases

Federal Lawsuit Defense

We defended a putative nationwide class action seeking in excess of $5 million that alleged our client (directly and through its agents) had caused the transmission of unauthorized text (SMS) messages to cellular telephones in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Without paying any money whatsoever, our client was voluntarily dismissed with prejudice less than 10 months after the lawsuit was filed and prior to class certification consideration. (Northern District of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, Opposing Counsel: Edelson McGuire, Chicago, Illinois)

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. (Judge Wheaton, DuPage County, Wheaton, Illinois, December 2007)

Intellectual Property Litigation

Our client sued a 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, clients have hired the Fish Law Firm to stop the unauthorized use of domain names.

Business Disputes

On behalf of two international clients, we sued a seller of a nearly $2 million airplane who 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, the case was resolved. (Judge Brawka, Kane County, Geneva, 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. The court denied class certification and dismissed 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.(December 2007, Judge Grady, Northern District of Illinois, Chicago, 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 one of his clients and the case was resolved favorably as to his other client. (Cook County, Bridgeview, Illinois, Judge Brosnham)

Investment Loss Litigation

Mr. Fish, along with co-counsel, helped recover millions of dollars for approximately 2,000 investors who had invested in a limited partnership commodities fund. The fiduciaries responsible for the limited partnership entrusted the investors' money to a company that ended up filing for bankruptcy after its officers had allegedly misappropriated assets. As a result of the bankruptcy filing, the investors were unable to access their money. After approximately one year of Federal court litigation, a settlement was reached that provided millions of dollars for the limited partners. In March 2007, Judge Wayne Anderson (Federal Court, Chicago, Illinois) entered final approval of the settlement.

Read the Settlement

Defamation/Slander Litigation

Mr. Fish defended a media company against allegations of defamation, invasion of privacy, and false light after a posting was made by one of its employees on the company's Internet site. We 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 obtain a $2.35 million jury verdict in a commercial bribery/trade defamation case brought on behalf of a local family run business. 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 jury assessed $635,000 in punitive damages.

In 2007, Mr. Fish helped recover $1.3 million on behalf of a group of minority shareholders of a community bank. 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-Class Counsel for the minority shareholders who were forced to sell their stock.

The Fish Law Firm defended an Illinois corporation after one of its former officers and shareholders sued for breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, violations of ERISA, seeking the payment of dividends, and requesting dissolution. The lawsuit settled shortly after we filed a counterclaim alleging that the minority stockholder had breached his fiduciary duties by: paying himself when he did not show up to work, used company assets for personal expenses, misappropriated company equipment, and committed negligence by neglecting his duties when he was employed. (August 2008, Judge Popejoy, DuPage County, Wheaton, Illinois)

Click here for our July 2008 Newsletter about minority shareholder rights

Trade Secret and Intellectual Property Litigation

Mr. Fish helped defend a marketing company in the Northern District of California in a trademark, copyright, and trade secret infringement case seeking substantial damages. Mr. Fish helped successfully prevent the entry of a temporary restraining order. After detailed discovery, the court also refused to enter a preliminary injunction. The case was resolved in less than 6 months.

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 Responsibility committee's program for disputes between lawyers and clients over attorney fees.

Franchise and Injunction Litigation

Inheritance Disputes

We were retained to enforce the provisions in a will and trust in a dispute between siblings. For years, our client’s brother had unilaterally used and benefited from valuable real estate and refused to distribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to our client. We filed suit in the Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois and filed an emergency motion to have our client’s brother removed as the trustee. Shortly thereafter, the case was resolved favorably for our client. (Judge Wheaton, DuPage County, Illinois)

FDIC Litigation

The financial crisis, and the FDIC’s takeover of banks, has resulted in extensive FDIC litigation. FDIC lawsuits are typically brought in federal court, or removed to Federal court from state court. Examples of cases we have litigated against the FDIC include: Our client, a former employee of an Illinois based bank, was sued after it was alleged that he was a loan officer who violated his employment contract and misappropriated bank assets and committed violations of the Illinois Trade Secrets Act. All claims against our client were voluntarily dismissed by the FDIC. We have also defended a claim brought by the FDIC as receiver for a failed financial institution that alleged our client defaulted on certain loan payments arising out of a business relationship.