| (November 3, 2004. Manchester, NH.) - Bob Lucic and Chris Cole, members of Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green's Litigation Practice, recently won a jury verdict which threw out claims against two of the firm's clients, Team Mortgage, LLC and Signature Mortgage Consultants LLC, and their principals.
The plaintiff, The Mortgage Specialists, Inc., originally claimed that the two named defendants had violated federal financial privacy laws, the New Hampshire Uniform Trade Secret Act, and a host of common and statutory causes of actions, by retaining certain client information with them upon the termination of an independent contractor arrangement with Mortgage Specialists. Bob and Chris convinced the Court to dismiss every claim other than the alleged trade secret misappropriation claim prior to trial.
During a six-day trial, the central issue for the jury to decide was whether the client information retained by our clients should, in fact, be considered "trade secrets" under the statutory definition. Following arguments by Messrs. Lucic and Cole, the jury found, after several hours of deliberation, that the information contained in the files did not qualify as trade secrets. Lucic and Cole stressed that their clients had never been asked to sign any non-competition or non-disclosure agreements, that Mortgage Specialists did not otherwise adequately protect the confidentiality of the information and that, therefore, Mortgage Specialists had not taken reasonable steps under the circumstances to protect their information.
"We researched attorneys online looking for someone who fit our situation," says Jay Davey, owner of Team Mortgage. "I called on a Friday night around 7 p.m. and Bob Lucic answered the phone. We spoke for a while, then he teleconferenced in Chris Cole and their response reinforced our feeling that they were the right attorneys for us. They are both extremely bright," he adds, "and eloquent and persuasive in the courtroom. Together they brought a lot of intellectual horsepower to our case." |
