BartkoZankel Scores Victory for Norman S. Wright Mechanical Equipment Corporation in Eight Year Antitrust Litigation
October 2010:
SAN JOSE, Calif. – October 29, 2010 – Bartko Zankel Tarrant & Miller secured victory yesterday in a hard-fought antitrust case in Advanced Microtherm, Inc., et al v. Norman Wright Mech. Equip. Corp., et al. (case no. 04-02266 JW). On October 28, 2010 the unanimous San Jose federal jury of 4 men and five women decided that Bartko Zankel’s client Norman Wright Mechanical Equipment Corporation had zero liability for attempted monopolization and other antitrust and state court claims. Plaintiffs were represented by prominent plaintiff’s antitrust counsel, Joseph M. Alioto, of the Alioto Law firm.
The suit, which was originally filed in April of 2002, culminated in a jury trial beginning on September 7, 2010. Over the course of seven and a half weeks, fifty five witnesses testified and 281 exhibits were admitted. The BartkoZankel firm was substituted into the case in April 2009 and inherited a document database containing some 500,000 pages of hard copy documents and 200GB of ESI. All told, more than 70 potential witnesses were deposed across the country and a universe of more than 1 million pages was evaluated.
The trial involved complex engineering and market-share analyses regarding the market for HVAC products in the construction of 150 large institutional buildings around Northern California, such as SF Airport expansions, Moscone Center, UCSF laboratories and the de Young museum. Seven expert witness testified at trial. Many leading engineers attested to the integrity of the design specifications for these sophisticated buildings — and the jury agreed.
Defense counsel, consisting of seasoned BartkoZankel trial attorneys Robert H. Bunzel, John F. McLean, Michael D. Abraham, and associate Howard I. Miller, worked alongside Norman Wright Mechanical Equipment’s In-House Counsel, Lisa Wright. “From the very beginning, our entire defense team was confident we would demonstrate – without a shadow of a doubt – that Norman Wright Mechanical Equipment Corporation in no way attempted to monopolize the market,” remarked Bunzel.
“We are thrilled with BartkoZankel’s efforts that resulted in successfully resolving a near-decade long matter,” added Wright. “Norman Wright most certainly did not violate antitrust or any other laws, and the assistance from the BartkoZankel team was essential in defeating these claims.”
Verdict Summary
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Bartko Zankel Tarrant & Miller is a mid-sized San Francisco, California law firm that has been in business for over 35 years. The firm’s practice emphasizes complex business litigation, financial institution litigation, white-collar criminal defense and all aspects of real estate transactions and litigation. Other practice areas include franchise & distribution transactions and litigation, as well as corporate & business formation.
