McKool Smith’s $32 million jury verdict on behalf of the developers of Canyon Ridge Resort has been recognized in The National Law Journal’s listing of the “Top 100 Verdicts” of 2015. To date, McKool Smith has won 16 Top 100 Verdicts­ - more than any other law firm over the past decade – amounting to more than $2.5 billion in verdicts for the firm’s clients.  

Robert Manley, a principal in McKool Smith’s Dallas office, led the Canyon Ridge trial team in a seven-week jury trial against Sterne, Agee & Leach and its former investment banker concerning breach of contractual and fiduciary duty allegations in connection with a development project that Canyon Ridge hired Sterne Agee & Leach to help promote. The trial concluded on June 1, 2015, when the jury awarded $20,599,000 in compensatory damages and $11,500,000 in punitive damages to the firm’s clients. Following the verdict, the court awarded an additional $4.5 million in prejudgment interest for a total award of $36.5 million for Canyon Ridge. The final judgment was entered on June 4, 2015.  The trial is reported to be the longest and the verdict one of the largest, if not the largest, in Hamilton County, Tennessee history. 

The McKool Smith trial team representing the Canyon Ridge developers included firm principals Robert ManleyGary CrucianiJohn Campbell, and Michael Fritz, and associates Avery WilliamsTravis DeArman, and Blake Bailey. The team was assisted by local counsel Bill Colvin of William G. Colvin PLLC.  The case is Canyon Ridge Resort, LLC, et al. v. Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc. et al., No. 11-C-1083, in the Circuit Court of Tennessee, Eleventh Judicial District at Chattanooga.

Along with the Canyon Ridge victory, McKool Smith’s Top 100 Verdicts include wins on behalf of Joshua Harman ($525M); ParkerVision ($173M); VirnetX ($368M); Versata ($345M); i4i ($200M); Versata ($138M); VirnetX ($106M); Medtronic ($250M); TGIP, Inc. ($156M),  TiVo Inc. ($74M); Pioneer Corp. ($59M); Anascape Ltd. ($21M); Opti, Inc. ($19M); Herb Adderley ($28M); and the City of San Antonio ($21M).

With more than 180 trial lawyers across offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall, New York, Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C., McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America’s leading trial firms. Since 2006, the firm has secured nine nine-figure jury verdicts, and ten eight-figure jury verdicts. The firm has also won more VerdictSearch andThe National Law Journal "Top 100 Verdicts" over the last ten years than any other law firm in the country. Courtroom successes like these have earned McKool Smith critical acclaim and helped the firm become what The Wall Street Journaldescribes as “one of the biggest law firm success stories of the past decade.” McKool Smith represents clients in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy, and white collar defense matters.

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