BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION

At Burke Costanza & Cuppy, we understand that the business of our clients is just that – business. Not litigation. We emphasize our role as counselors with the goal of helping our clients avoid litigation where that is a reasonable and practical strategy. But we also recognize that in today’s business world there are those situations where litigation is unavoidable.

When litigation becomes necessary, we are ready to do whatever the case calls for to protect our client’s interests. In some situations that means being ready to take the case all the way through trial to achieve the clients’ objectives. Our experienced trial attorneys have done so on many occasions. But in other situations, the client’s interests are best served by resolving the case short of trial, through a settlement achieved either by direct negotiation or by engaging in alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration.

Our litigation attorneys are experienced in business litigation in a wide variety of contexts. Some recent business and commercial litigations in which we have been involved include:

• Representation of a large manufacturing company in a dispute with insurers over a loss arising out of a scheme in which a vendor defrauded the manufacturer by reporting artificially low recovery rates on the re-processing of scrap materials. We first obtained summary judgment on a number of issues which positioned us very favorably in the lawsuits. Then, through mediation, our client was able to recover in excess of $1.2 million from the insurance companies, who had originally taken the position that the loss was not covered.
  
• We filed a lawsuit on behalf of a large regional supplier of industrial gases and related products against a multi-national steel manufacturer to recover disputed rental and other costs related to the supplying of gas cylinders over a number of years. A negotiated resolution netted the client well over half a million dollars in payments and return of cylinder inventory.
  
• We were retained by an insurance company in federal court litigation where, based on a magistrate’s recommendation, the insurer faced potential liability in excess of $20 million. When five full days of mediation in which we offered a settlement package with a value of over $5 million failed to produce a settlement, the case was litigated with the result that the insurer was completely exonerated.
  

For more information about the Firm’s business and commercial litigation services, please contact Natalie Shrader or Paula Neff in our Merrillville office.