When our client sold his refurbished Cessna T210 to a buyer from Nevada for $175,000, the buyer was thrilled, describing the plane the buyer had flown back to Reno in glowing terms. But over time the buyer became dissatisfied with the aircraft, and located a Nevada lawyer to pursue legal action against our client, a retired doctor, for breach of contract, unfair and deceptive trade practices, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud.
Over the course of nearly two years, we defended our client against these meritless claims, including at a three-day arbitration hearing where plaintiff’s counsel put on repetitive and redundant testimony and expert testimony that undercut their own claims.
“In a decade of litigating criminal cases, I’ve never seen a more pathetic presentation of evidence,” said Damon Chetson who represented the defendant seller. “For whatever reason, the plaintiff’s counsel traveled to North Carolina to put on evidence to a neutral arbitrator that undercut their basic claim that fraud had occurred.”
While plaintiff’s counsel ultimately requested a judgment of more than $300,000, the arbitrator ruled against the plaintiff on all claims and declared the defendants the “prevailing parties” enabling them to recover litigation costs.
Mr. Chetson chalked up the win to a combination of a strong case for the defense, his experience as a trial lawyer, and inexplicable decisions by plaintiff’s counsel to decline to settle the case earlier.
