Financial Relief

Sam Andre and Melissa Hodge assisted a client who originally came to Fredrikson seeking help in obtaining payment of a dividend from his prior firm, which he alleged had been unlawfully withheld from him. Not only did the firm refuse to pay the dividend, but it thereafter claimed that the client was in violation of an alleged non-compete agreement. They tried to reduce the repurchase price of his shares in the firm by half. After unsuccessful out-of-court negotiations, Sam and Melissa helped the client prepare and file a lawsuit against the firm and its officers, asserting claims for breach of contract and illegal distribution, among others, and that he was owed the full repurchase price of his shares plus the unpaid dividend. The defendants, the firm and its officers, asserted a counterclaim seeking enforcement of the alleged non-compete agreement, asserting damages totaling $1,200,000. The defendants’ claim quickly unraveled, however, when they could not find and produce a copy of any such agreement. After a day of mediation, defendants agreed to pay our client $145,000 in exchange for dismissal of all parties’ claims. This amount represented a large percentage of the amount demanded by the client and came with the additional benefit of bringing a swift end to what would otherwise have been a seven-year relationship between the parties due to the share repurchase. Patrick Mahlberg, Ryan Murphy, summer associate Carter Allen also assisted.