Ervin Cohen & Jessup Clients Prevail in Massive Jury Trial

John Wiseman, Valdis Dauksts, and Chaos Visual Productions Vindicated

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Nov 24, 2010, 02:14 ET

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 24, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Eighteen months of contentious litigation brought by XL Touring Video, Inc., North Hollywood, against its former President, CEO and Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP (ECJ) client John Wiseman for misappropriation of alleged trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty reached its culmination on November 19, 2010, when a Los Angeles Superior Court jury returned a verdict in Mr. Wiseman's favor. The jury also exonerated ECJ's other clients, Burbank-based Chaos Visual Productions—the company Mr. Wiseman had founded when he left XLTV—as well as former XLTV (and now Chaos) general manager Valdis Dauksts, of any wrongdoing. XLTV had sought more than $11 million in compensatory damages, but the jury awarded it only $22,894, representing a mere 10% of some $237,000 in expenses which XLTV claimed had been inappropriately charged to the company by Mr. Wiseman while he was there.

ECJ's defense team was led by the head of its Litigation Department, Allan Cooper. "Winning this case is one of the highlights of my 36-year career," he said. "For a young business like Chaos, this was a bet-the-company case. The jury's determination that John and Val did not misappropriate trade secrets or breach any fiduciary duty not only allows Chaos to continue serving its clients, but it also vindicates their reputations, which XLTV's claims had compromised. It is a resounding victory."

In addition to its compensatory damage claims, XLTV also asked the jury to award it punitive damages against all three defendants. The jury rejected these claims in their entirety.

The other principal lawyer for the defense, ECJ's Lauren Katunich, had this to say about the case: "Having been involved in the case since its beginning, I experienced first-hand how hotly contested and heavily litigated it was. At trial alone, over 2000 documents were designated as exhibits, and over 40 witnesses testified. We were up against a formidable national law firm, and no stone was left unturned. To prevail in such circumstances is unbelievably rewarding."

The case arose out of John Wiseman's November 17, 2008, resignation from XLTV to found Chaos. Both companies provide video equipment rental and services to live concert touring artists. A number of XLTV's clients, who had begun doing business with XLTV during Mr. Wiseman's tenure there, followed him to Chaos. XLTV filed suit seven months later, on June 3, 2009, weeks after an independent evaluator had determined that Mr. Wiseman's 10% stock interest in XLTV, which XLTV was to repurchase on his departure, was worth in excess of $500,000. Mr. Wiseman was never paid for the stock and the claim remains to be decided in a separate trial, if necessary. "We are attempting to resolve this matter informally," Cooper and Katunich said.

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP is a full-service law firm that provides a broad range of business-related legal services including corporate law; litigation; real estate transactions and finance; tax planning and controversies; employment law; health care law; bankruptcy, receivership and reorganization; and estate planning. ECJ is also a charter member of the international Law Firm Alliance. The firm has been a primary fixture in the Beverly Hills community for the past 57 years.

SOURCE Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP