Commercial Litigation

In a high-stakes business dispute, a company needs savvy counsel who can advocate skillfully at each stage of litigation, including trial. Dowd Bennett has proven trial experience, including successful verdicts in high-profile cases, and has favorably resolved many other lawsuits before trial by dispositive motion or settlement.

Major corporations and other clients entrust Dowd Bennett with their commercial litigation matters — especially when the issues are complex and material to the business.

Our commercial litigation team handles every type of contract and commercial dispute that companies face, including cases with significant financial exposure. We litigate a broad range of substantive legal claims, including breach of warranty, fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and other business torts, such as product disparagement and false advertising. We also serve as litigation counsel in patent disputes.

The clients we represent are equally diverse and include consumer products companies, professional services firms, large industrial corporations, intellectual property companies and those in the healthcare sector. We are willing to negotiate alternative fees, including contingencies.

Dowd Bennett’s trial lawyers have been recognized for their work by a number of publications and bar associations. These include Missouri Lawyers Weekly, St. Louis Business Journal, Riverfront Times, The Best Lawyers in America^®, Super Lawyers Magazine and the St. Louis County Bar Association. In addition, several who previously served as federal prosecutors received government commendations for their work.

Representative Matters

• Prevailed on behalf of Anheuser-Busch when a St. Louis City jury rejected Francine Katz’s claims of gender discrimination after a 13-day trial in Katz v. Anheuser-Busch. Ms. Katz was the highest ranking female at Anheuser-Busch and sought approximately $19M in actual damages based on her allegations of gender discrimination in pay from 2002 through 2008.
• Obtained successful jury verdict for Emerson Electric and its subsidiaries in Automation Service v. Emerson Process Management and Fisher Controls, a case involving a trade secret and contract dispute against a re-manufacturer of Fisher Controls valves and actuators.  The jury ruled for Emerson on all counts and awarded $5.4 million in damages on the counterclaim.
• Served as lead trial counsel for Monsanto in a case against ConocoPhillips involving a multiyear supply contract for petroleum coke, which was needed for Monsanto to manufacture its Round-Up^® pesticide.  A unanimous jury awarded Monsanto $7.6 million after a two-week trial.
• Served as lead defense counsel in 45-day trial in a False Claims Act case in federal court in El Paso, Texas (reportedly the longest civil trial in the El Paso division).  In the case, U.S. ex rel. Gonzalez v. FMC, the unanimous jury reached a defense verdict on all counts remaining at the time of trial.
• Represented clients in a $280 million multi-week trial in the Delaware Chancery Court.  The case, Olson v. Viking Global Investors, was a dispute between the founders of a hedge fund managing more than $10 billion in assets.  The Chancery Court ruled for Dowd Bennett clients in all respects, and the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed.
• Served as lead trial counsel in the longest jury trial in St. Louis County history, in Bi-State v. Cross County Collaborative.  The $130 million, nine-count case involved responsibility for cost overruns for St. Louis’ largest rail and also sought punitive damages.  After more than four months of trial, the jury ruled for our clients on all counts and awarded our client millions in unpaid invoices.
• Obtained a jury award of more than $36 million for our client, a Swiss public company, in S.P. v. Zoltek, a case involving a supply contract for carbon fiber used in large European-manufactured wind turbine blades.