Category: Victories

BG Wins Writ of Prohibition Before State of West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals

A Bailey Glasser litigation team composed of founding partner Ben Bailey and lawyer Christopher Smith succeeded in obtaining a writ of prohibition from the State of West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on behalf of our client, Pachira Energy.

In this action for extraordinary relief, Pachira sought a writ of prohibition to prevent the Circuit Court of Monongalia County from a January 2023 order by that court which ordered disassociation of a partnership even though no party to the litigation sought disassociation in the underlying litigation. The underlying litigation involved the requested dissolution and winding up of a partnership under the West Virginia Revised Uniform Partnership Act. However, instead of ordering this dissolution, the circuit court disassociated Pachira from the partnership, effectively kicking it out of the partnership while allowing the partnership to continue operating.

In recognizing that “extraordinary remedies are reserved for ‘really extraordinary causes,’ the appellate court found for our client and determined that: “[a]fter a careful review of the parties’ arguments, the record before this Court and the applicable law, we conclude that the circuit court committed a clear legal error in ordering dissociation when that relief was not requested by either party. Accordingly, we grant the petition for writ of prohibition, vacate the order dissociating Pachira from the water system association, and remand this case to the circuit court for further proceedings.”

Obtaining relief of this nature is rare, but our litigators felt was warranted in this particular case. The case is now back before the Circuit Court for additional litigation. To read the Court’s Memorandum Decision, please visit here.

Brian Glasser Named a Top 200 Lawyer in America by Forbes

Bailey Glasser founding partner Brian Glasser has been named one of “America’s Top 200 Lawyers” by Forbes in its first-ever elite lawyer list.

Forbes described its criteria as follows: “[t]he elite lawyers on this list were selected through a rigorous, multi-stage process of researching, evaluating and rating thousands of candidates, conducted by an editorial team with broad experience in law practice and the legal marketplace. The result is a collection of top lawyers involved in the most consequential cases, deals or legal trends in recent years . . . . they all share reputations for integrity, records of excellence—and Forbes’ recognition as the best in the business. What follows is a power list of lawyers whose skill, passion and purpose set them apart—for when you or your business need it most.”

In the last two years alone, Brian won a $5 million award against MyPillow CEO and election conspiracist Michael Lindell; helped lead the challenge to Johnson & Johnson’s “Texas Two Step” bankruptcy maneuver on behalf of people injured by J&J’s asbestos-riddled talc products; helped win dismissal of the bankruptcy of 3M subsidiary Aearo Technologies by a federal judge which thereafter resulted in the $6 billion settlement of more than 260,000 lawsuits brought by veterans and U.S. service members alleging that 3M military earplugs caused their hearing loss; and has won tens of millions of dollars for his clients in other lawsuits. He has also led the filing of hundreds of lawsuits on behalf of people abused as minors by the State of Maryland’s juvenile hall facilities via a new law passed in October 2023 that permitted previously time-barred claims by abuse survivors.

Read more here.

Bailey Glasser Wins Partial Summary Judgment in Symbria ESOP Litigation

On March 25, 2024, Bailey & Glasser, LLP won a motion for partial summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in the case Placht v. Argent Trust Company, Case No. 21-cv-5783. The lawsuit claims that Argent, the trustee for the Symbria Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (the “ESOP”), caused the ESOP to purchase $66,500,000 of Symbria, Inc. stock for more than fair market value, violating federal pension law in the ERISA statute. The court held that the plaintiff proved every element of her ERISA prohibited transaction claims, removing the need to provide additional proof of these elements at trial.

The court made important rulings of law in favor of the plaintiff and beneficiaries of employee benefit plans generally.

First, the court rejected Argent’s argument that the plaintiff’s claim that Argent caused the ESOP to engage in a prohibited transfer of plan assets to “parties in interest” to the ESOP requires a showing of subjective intent to benefit such parties through the transfer. The court explained that rejecting a subjective intent requirement comports with Congress’ intent for the statute to set forth per se violations, for which the parties’ intent should have no bearing as to whether a violation occurred. This has been a hotly contested issue in ERISA litigation.

Second, the court rejected Argent’s argument that an affirmative defense that the ESOP paid “adequate consideration” thwarted the plaintiff’s claims concerning the allegedly prohibited and imprudent stock transaction. Referring to facts adduced by the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s experts’ analyses, the court held that “factual questions exist as to whether Argent acted prudently and ensured that the Plan paid no more than ‘adequate consideration’ for the Symbria stock.” Therefore the plaintiff’s “claims and Argent’s defenses with respect to the ESOP Transaction must proceed to trial.” This decision puts plan fiduciaries to their proof and is precedent that, rather than being decided on a premature summary judgment, trials are required on the fact-intensive inquiry into the diligence of trustees’ stock valuations and transaction negotiations.

For more visit here.

BG Wins $40 Million Jury Trial in Federal Texas Court


Washington, D.C.: On March 6, 2024, a Bailey & Glasser trial team won a $40 million jury verdict in Texas federal court in a fraud case against Mark Siffin and Paul Cyphers arising out of the bankruptcy of MTE Holdings, LLC. The case is Thomas Bennett, Trustee for the MTE Litigation Trust v. Mark Siffin et al., U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, 7:21-cv-00214-DC-RCG. 

The Bailey Glasser trial team consisted of partners Robert Bell, Cary Joshi, Elliott McGraw, and John Turner, along with paralegal Manny Rios.

Bailey Glasser’s client, the Trustee of the MTE Litigation Trust, asserted fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims against certain officers of MTE Holdings, LLC and their affiliated company MDC Energy LLC, an oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Midland, Texas. The beneficiaries of the trust are a group of financial institutions that had lent almost half a billion dollars to MTE Holdings before MTE filed for bankruptcy in October 2019. The group of lenders sued the individual officers of MTE for intentionally misrepresenting the financial health of the company in order to continue to draw on the loan.

After deliberating for just two hours, the jury awarded the plaintiff $40 million, finding both Mr. Siffin and Mr. Cyphers liable for fraud.

“The plaintiff’s interests have been vindicated,” said Cary Joshi, counsel for the MTE Litigation Trust. “Our client knew they had been defrauded and the jury knew it, too.”

WaPo: “Mike Lindell Must Pay Man $5M in ‘Prove Mike Wrong’ Challenge, Judge Says”

Mike Lindell, MyPillow founder and 2020 election conspiracy theorist, has lost his challenge to the multi-million-dollar arbitration award made in favor of Robert Zeidman, a respected cyber expert. BG’s Brian Glasser and Cary Joshi represent Mr. Zeidman in this matter, as well as partner Lori Bullock and paralegal Manuel Rios.

Following the 2020 election, Lindell prominently trumpeted the false theory that the 2020 presidential election involved alleged Chinese government hacking that resulted in votes cast for Donald Trump being switched to Joe Biden. In July 2021, Mike Lindell sponsored his own so-called “Cyber Symposium”, which he said would provide an opportunity for technical experts in cyber forensics to examine and evaluate the evidence presented by Lindell. Lindell was so confident in the validity of his so-called “evidence” that, as part of his Cyber Symposium, he held the “Prove Mike Wrong Challenge” and offered a $5 million prize to anyone who could prove the data was not valid.

As described in this Washington Post article, Zeidman compiled a report of his findings and sent a letter to Lindell’s firm asking for the reward, and filed for arbitration after Lindell denied his payment request. The arbitration panel required Lindell to pay Zeidman within 30 days, and when it was not paid Zeidman asked a federal court to confirm his arbitration award. On Wednesday, the federal district judge in Minnesota upheld the previous ruling from the arbitration panel and Zeidman is now owed the $5 million payout plus interest.

“The chances of a confirmation were in Zeidman’s favor,” Brian Glasser said, as arbitration rulings are upheld unless they are found to be obtained by “corruption, fraud or undue means.”

Read the full Washington Post article here.

To learn more about this case please visit here.

#ProveMikeWrong #BaileyGlasser #Electionfraud #Arbitration #Litigation

Federal Appeals Court Vacates District Court Decision in Fresno State Title IX Case, Opens Door for All-Female-Student-Athlete Class Action

In an important appellate victory for six former members of the women’s lacrosse team at Fresno State, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the district court’s orders denying class certification, paving the way for the lawsuit to continue on behalf of all female student-athletes at the university.

First filed in 2021, the lawsuit alleged Fresno State violated Title IX by depriving women of equal opportunities to participate in varsity athletics and equal treatment and benefits. In February 2022, the women sought certification as a class action on behalf of all female student-athletes and/or potential athletes at the school. However, the district court twice denied certification, finding an inherent conflict between athletes who played on different teams.

The Ninth Circuit disagreed, finding the lower court “clearly erred” by holding such a conflict exists as to the equal opportunities claim. The court reached a similar conclusion as to the equal treatment claim, holding the district court erred by failing to analyze it separately.

“Today, the Ninth Circuit opened a door the district court twice tried to slam shut. In a real sense, this order vindicates the brave young women who stood up and demanded that Fresno State provide what Title IX promises—equality,” said BG partner Joshua I. Hammack, who briefed and argued the appeal. “The court confirmed that those who seek equality are not in conflict with those who stand to benefit from it. The fight isn’t over, of course, but today is an important step toward justice.”

In addition to Hammack, the Plaintiffs are represented by lead counsel and Title IX team leader Arthur Bryant, and partners Cary Joshi and Lori Bullock of Bailey Glasser, and Cynthia Chapman, Mike Caddell, and Amy Tabor of Caddell & Chapman.

To read the full press release and Ninth Circuit opinion, please visit here.

Charges Against Marine Veteran Wrongly Accused of Stealing Hertz Rental Car Dropped by Prosecutor After CBS News Report

MEDIA REQUESTS: To schedule an interview with Blake Gober or counsel in this matter, please contact Joe Carey at joe@careystrategiccommunications.com.

Morgantown, West Virginia – Until this morning, with the release of a bombshell CBS News report (view here) the world did not know that Marine Corps Veteran Blake Gober was wrongly arrested, imprisoned, and prosecuted for the alleged theft of a Hertz rental car back in 2019. On October 16, 2023, the felony charges against Mr. Gober were dismissed with prejudice.

The wrongful arrest and prosecution of Mr. Gober is yet another occasion where Hertz perpetrated great harm upon an innocent professional who simply rented one of its vehicles. As set forth in the Dismissal Motion: “the State has lost confidence in the reliability of the information provided by [Hertz] that forms the basis of these felony charges.”

Travis Prince and Brian Glasser of Bailey & Glasser, LLP and Wes Prince of the law firm of Shaffer Madia Law, PLLC represent Mr. Gober. “We are glad that the charges have finally been dropped against our client, but they never should have been filed in the first place. What Hertz put him through should not be suffered by anyone,” said Travis Prince.

Mr. Gober added: “I was a Hertz Gold customer who returned a car three years ago which I rented for my move from West Virginia to Northern Virginia. For Hertz to issue a warrant for my arrest and to put me and my family through this is unconscionable. I am dedicated to making sure this never happens to anyone else.”

Mr. Gober was unjustly apprehended and incarcerated during a routine traffic stop in 2022, the result of a false police report filed by Hertz in January 2020. On November 19, 2019, Gober rented a car from Hertz in Morgantown, West Virginia. Gober then returned it to Hertz at Reagan National Airport. On January 13, 2020, Hertz filed a false police report alleging Mr. Gober stole its car and on February 28, 2020 (seven weeks later), the car mysteriously reappeared at an Alexandria, Virginia apartment building, having amassed a whopping 7,492 miles on it. Meanwhile, Mr. Gober was working around Washington, D.C., knowing nothing about the missing car or warrant.

To learn more click here.

BG Team Wins $19.96 Million Judgment on Behalf of Wildcat Coal, LLC

On October 12, 2023, Bailey Glasser prevailed in a lease royalty dispute on behalf of our client Wildcat Coal, LLC, obtaining a judgment of nearly $20 million. This dispute involved calculation of advance royalties in a coal mining lease. The judgment was issued by Judge Freudenthal of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming.

The defendant, Bridger Coal Company, argued that it did not owe Wildcat any advance royalties despite a provision of the mining lease that obligated Bridger to mine at least 45% of its coal from Wildcat’s properties.

“We are glad that Wildcat will receive the advance royalties that Bridger agreed to pay under the lease,” said Bailey Glasser founding partner Brian Glasser, lead counsel in this case.

In addition to Mr. Glasser, the Bailey Glasser team included partners Leslie Brueckner, Jennifer Fahey, and Ben Schwartzman.

The Order granting judgment can be viewed here.

BG Victory in Sixth Circuit Stands as U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari

On October 2, 2023, Joshua Hammack, Nick Johnson, and Chris Smith continued their string of litigation wins on behalf of Foresight Coal Sales. For years, Foresight has argued a Kentucky law—SB 257—violates the Constitution by discriminating against interstate commerce. In February 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that Foresight’s constitutional claim was likely to succeed. Put simply, it held Kentucky could not “have its cake and eat it, too.”

Kentucky filed a petition for certiorari, asking the Supreme Court of the United States to review the Sixth Circuit’s decision. To show Kentucky’s arguments were wrong, the Bailey Glasser appellate team turned to a timeless classic: Animal Farm. (This one is worth a read!) On Monday, the Supreme Court denied Kentucky’s petition for certiorari.

For more please follow this link.

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