Sample Trials and Appeals in Private Practice

Mt. Olive Storage LLC v. L.A. County Tax Assessor.  A Ninth Circuit judge hired Polly to represent his family business after several tax lawyers told him the case was hopeless and he should just pay the tax.  After a series of administrative hearings, Polly obtained a final judgment lowering the tax valuation of the business from $7.5 million to $2 million.

Cordis Corp. v. Advanced Cardiovascular Sys., Inc., 2000 WL 376416 (D. Del. 2000).  Akin Gump represented Dr. Julio Palmaz, the inventor of the stent medical device, which is used in angioplasties to keep previously-clogged arteries from collapsing once opened.  Several doctors who worked with Dr. Palmaz claimed they invented the stent.  All cases were either settled with the opposition paying damages or were decided in our client’s favor in court.

50-OFF Stores, Inc. v. Banques Paribas (Suisse) SA, 180 F.3d 247 (5th Cir. 1999).  Akin Gump’s corporate client, 50-OFF, sued Banques Paribas Suisse (BPS) and Chase Manhattan Bank for conversion of stock when one of BPS’ customers stole 50-Off’s stock worth $6 million that was being held in trust at Chase Manhattan Bank for a Regulation S offering.  The jury found Chase intentionally disregarded notices from 50-OFF that the purchasers had not yet paid for the stock, and awarded $13 million in actual and compensatory damages and $138 million in punitive damages.

Barshop v. Medina County Underground Water Conservation Dist., 925 S.W.2d 618 (Tex. 1996).  Just three weeks before trial, the Edwards Aquifer Authority hired Akin Gump to represent it.  The Authority had been created by a state statute to regulate the withdrawal of ground water for the first time in Texas’ history.  Several municipal water districts and citizens sued the EAA, seeking to have the new statute declared unconstitutional so that they could withdraw as much water as they desired. Polly served as second chair at trial and had sole responsibility for drafting the winning brief in the Texas Supreme Court.

San Mateo County Transit Dist. v. Tanforan Park Shopping Center, L.L.C., (San Mateo County Superior Court 2001, Case No. 407836).  Polly helped obtain a multi-million judgment in an eminent domain trial involving the value of land at a shopping center that was being taken by BART.

Trinity Universal Ins. Co. v. Bleeker, 966 S.W.2d 489 (Tex. 1998).  Polly drafted an amicus curiae brief that was the only brief to raise the winning issue that reversed a $77 million judgment on a $40,000 liability insurance policy.  The decision made new law regarding an insurance company’s responsibility for a judgment in all third party liability cases in Texas.