Employment and Injury Successful Stories

Burns & Schultz LLP, Client’s Tell Their Story

The following is a brief sample of some of our recent successes:

We represented a client who had been sexually harassed by her supervisor at work.  Without commencing suit, we informed the company of her claim, mediated the dispute through the American Arbitration Association, and successfully settled the matter for One Million Dollars.

 
We represented a shareholder of Dow Corning in connection with Dow Corning’s $3.5 Billion settlement of all silicone gel implant cases during the Dow Corning Corporation bankruptcy proceeding. 
 

 
We represented a contractor who was sued by the State of New York for allegedly releasing asbestos in a SUNY dormitory during the course of renovating the dormitory. The State sought reimbursement of over $240,000 for the clean-up of the dormitory.  We moved for summary judgment on various grounds, including spoliation of evidence.  The trial judge granted our motion and dismissed all causes of action against our client.
 

 
We represented a contractor at a work site where the plaintiff alleged he was injured as the result of a fall.  Plaintiff sued our client and its subcontractor for violations of Labor Law 200, 241(6), 240, and common law negligence.  Plaintiff had surgery to fuse his cervical spine at C5 – C7 and elbow surgery to release his right radial nerve and right ulnar nerve.  After moving for summary judgment, the Labor Law 241(6) and 240 claims were dismissed.  The case proceeded to a jury trial on the Labor Law 200 and common law negligence claims.  Plaintiff’s pre-trial demand was $1.5 million.  After seven days of trial, we settled on behalf of our client for less than 2.4% of plaintiff’s pre-trial demand.
 

 
We represented a client who sued for millions of dollars in damages for alleged breach of contract and breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing.  We moved for summary judgment on the same day the answer was served, thus cutting off the opportunity for the plaintiff to engage in costly discovery.  The trial judge granted our motion for summary judgment and dismissed all of the plaintiff’s causes of action.  The appellate court unanimously affirmed.
 

 
We represented a client who was sued for disability discrimination and retaliation for requiring an employee to wear steel-toed shoes to work, as mandated by OSHA regulations.  The trial court granted our motion for summary judgment, which was affirmed by the Second Circuit.
 

 
We represented a client who was sued repeatedly by an employee for race, national origin, religion, and age discrimination.   The trial judge granted our motion for summary judgment, which was affirmed by the Second Circuit.  The Unites States Supreme Court subsequently denied certiorari.
 

 
We represented a client who had been sexually harassed at work.  We successfully settled the case during mediation.
 

We represented a client sued for millions of dollars in damages for alleged breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, breach of fiduciary duty, and conversion.  The trial court granted summary judgment, dismissing all of the claims against our client.
 

 
We represented a client sued for supplying allegedly defective products.  The trial court denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment seeking to impose liability, and the appellate court unanimously affirmed.  The case subsequently settled on favorable terms for our client.

We represented a client sued by a third-party plaintiff for indemnification.  The trial court granted summary judgment to our client, dismissing the third-party complaint.
 

We represented a client sued by a party seeking a declaration that a right of first refusal in the parties’ contract was unenforceable.  The trial court dismissed the complaint, finding that the right of first refusal was not unenforceable.
 

We represented a client who was a passenger in a car involved in a motor vehicle accident.  A settlement was reached with the defendants’ insurers paying our client $123,000, 98.4% of the insurance policy limits.

We were appointed by the United States District Court for the Western District of New York to represent an inmate who had brought a civil rights lawsuit against the State of New York.  After a three day trial, the jury found in favor of our client and awarded money damages and attorneys' fees.
 

We represented a client who was sued for race discrimination. After extensive discovery, we successfully obtained summary judgment from the trial court, which was affirmed on appeal by the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
 

We negotiated and drafted a settlement agreement for alleged infringement of a client's patent that allowed the two competing companies to agree to a deal that not only monetarily rewarded the company claiming infringement but allowed the alleged infringer to participate in cooperative global marketing effort for the alleged infringing technology together with the company claiming infringement.
 

 
We negotiated and drafted a multi-year, multi-party, multi-million dollar contracts and related documents between a local corporation and an international conglomerate for the supply of certain technology and service.
 

 
We conducted all due diligence and prepared the acquisition documents for the purchase of the assets of a corporation in bankruptcy.
 

 
We drafted memorandums of understanding for a variety of companies
 

 
We worked with patent attorneys to reinstate a company's patents that had been negligently abandoned by the company's prior counsel.
 

 
We drafted multiple international cooperation agreements in French and English between companies with complementary products and markets.
 

We represent a company that is in the process of forming an international joint venture for which we negotiated and drafted all organizational documents.