Sometimes, civil and business litigation can seem to take forever. In one case, in which Attorney Tim Zerillo represented a local doctor, it didn't take forever but it did take over a year to arbitrate.
Arbitration is like a trial except you have a private judge. Arbitrations are supposed to be simple, but this one was anything but simple. Mandatory arbitration clauses are often written into operating agreements, incorporation agreements and other partnership agreements.
In this case, our client doctor left a medical practice. Thereafter, the remaining partner promptly brought counterclaims against our client, alleging:
breach of the contractual obligation of Managers to act in “good faith,”
violation of an implied covenant of “good faith and fair dealing,”
violation of a fiduciary duty to discharge duties in relation to “good faith” under §1559(1) of the Maine Limited Liability Company Act, 31 M.R.S.A. §1501,
spoiliation,
fraud,
negligent misrepresentation,
unjust enrichment,
quantum meruit and
tortious interference with an advantageous business relationship.
The opposing parties vehemently and aggressively brought claims against our client. They brought in forensic economic experts and claimed well over a million dollars in damages against our client.
We litigated the case thoroughly and had a trial. Our defense was to attack the opponent's claims. Our opponent doctor claims that she had been promised certain things by our client and was damaged to the tune of over one million dollars as a result. Our defense was that this doctor was simply not credible.
I am happy to report that the Arbitrator found for our client completely. The opposing doctor will recover nothing from our client. In fact, we have succeeded in our claims against our opponent.
Huge congratulations to our client.
