INTERNATIONAL LITIGATION

David A. Coulson and Mark A. Salky

Greenberg Traurig

Kinwong, a Chinese printed circuit board manufacturer, faced a breach of contract lawsuit brought by Fort Lauderdale-based distributor Circuitronix LLC.

Kinwong was accused of breaching an exclusive distribution agreement by selling millions of dollars worth of boards to companies that Circuitronix claimed were its exclusive customers. International discovery, including depositions in Hong Kong, Germany and the United States, lasted more than a year.

The Greenberg Traurig team successfully winnowed Kinwong's exposure from seven to two causes of action. On a motion for summary judgment, the trial court ruled a liquidated damages provision priced at $2 million per breach was unenforceable.

After a two-week trial, the defense landed a verdict that amounted to less than 1/100th of the initial liability claim and less than a settlement offer.

Describe a key piece of testimony, evidence, ruling or order in your case and how it influenced the outcome: After successfully narrowing the case down from racketeering and a litany of business torts to claims for breach of contract and unjust enrichment at the motion to dismiss stage, and recognizing that China-based Kinwong faced significant liability issues, Coulson and Salky strategized about how best to control the damages that could potentially be awarded against their client at trial. They were assisted in this effort and at trial by associates James E. Gillenwater and Angela Korge.

The GT team successfully disposed of the plaintiff's claim for punitive damages at the summary judgment stage. They also attacked plaintiff's claim for lost profit damages on a successful motion in limine based on what they argued was inadequate disclosure of a lost-profits calculation during discovery and improper assertions of privilege on questions relating to that calculation during the plaintiff's deposition.

After winning those motions and shortly before trial, Kinwong stipulated to the plaintiff's agency allegations, foreclosing plaintiff from pursuing disgorgement damages through its unjust enrichment claim.

These strategic decisions limited the claimed damages exposure for Kinwong from around $120 million to no more than $1.2 million at trial and further reduced that to a plaintiff's verdict of just $1 million — less than Kinwong had offered to settle the action. The case is on appeal.