Area law firm announces trial victory in union case
Two months ago, an Oakland County jury returned a verdict, after a mere 30 minutes of deliberation, awarding Security Police and Fire Professionals of America (SPFPA) more than $500,000 in damages, including nearly $400,000 in attorney’s fees, concluding 2-½ years of litigation by SPFPA against a disgruntled former employee.
Farmington Hills-based Young, Garcia & Quadrozzi represented SPFPA, an international union of some 27,000 private police, security, and fire professionals. The case involved numerous breaches of a prior settlement agreement between SPFPA and its former member Steven Maritas, primarily related to repeated use of SPFPA’s trademarked name and acronym in hundreds of internet posts. Prior to trial, the firm successfully obtained a ruling from Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Martha Anderson that the agreement was valid and had been breached. As a result, the jury’s role was to determine SPFPA’s damages and attorney’s fees.
“We are very pleased with the jury’s verdict and the outcome of the case,” said David Garcia, a shareholder in the firm and lead trial counsel in the case. “SPFPA retained the firm to aggressively prosecute this case, after two prior lawsuits against Maritas that resulted in settlement agreements that Maritas habitually disregarded.
“The jury’s verdict, which awarded to SPFPA 100 percent of the damages and fees sought, was an unmistakable statement as to the magnitude and malice of Maritas’ online statements against the union.”
‘MIDC Updates’ presented online by OCBA March 1
The Oakland County Bar Association will present “MIDC Updates” as an online webinar on Tuesday, March 1, from noon to 1 p.m. via Zoom.
One of the reforms ordered by the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC) is for the criminal defense appointment system to be independent of the judiciary. Webinar attendees will hear how Oakland County is implementing all current MIDC standards in the Circuit and 52nd District Courts. Speaking at the webinar will be Peter L. Menna, chief attorney with the Indigent Defense Services Office.
Credit has been approved with the Oakland County Bar Association for 1 Criminal credit and 1 Juvenile credit.
Cost for the webinar is $12 for OCBA members pre-registration and $25 for non-members pre-registration. Oakland County MIDC court appointed attorneys can attend for free. The Zoom link will be distributed to registrants 48 hours before the event. To register for this program, visit www.ocba.org and click on “events.”
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/subscriptions
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://www.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
