Court Overturns Jury Verdict Against Shook Client

Shook Partner Chip Sander and Of Counsel Dan Rohner obtained reversal of a jury verdict and damages for abuse of process when a Colorado appeals court held that Shook’s client should have received a directed verdict on the issue as a matter of law. Active Release Technologies (ART) and two related companies sued software and IT provider Xtomic for, among other things, misappropriation of trade secrets. A jury decided all claims in Xtomic’s favor and awarded $1,530,000 in damages. On appeal, the court held that the trial court erred when it denied ART’s motion for a directed verdict on the abuse of process counterclaim, holding that neither an earlier settlement with an Xtomic employee, ART’s reputation, nor letters ART sent requesting preservation of emails before legal proceedings began were evidence of tortious conduct.