HOUSTON,
Oct. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A
Texas appeals court upheld a jury award of $750,000 in attorneys' fees for AZA's client – a
ruling that means the award will stand as the fourth-largest
defense verdict delivered in Texas
in 2011.
Attorney Elizabeth Pannill Fletcher
of Houston's
Ahmad Zavitsanos Anaipakos Alavi & Mensing P.C. (or
AZA) successfully defended Mistras Group, Inc. and
several of its employees against a $9
million lawsuit by a competing company in a Harris County trial. The suit was filed by
Texas-based Sentinel Integrity
Solutions Inc., which accused a former employee of breaking a
non-compete covenant by going to work for New Jersey-based Mistras (NYSE: MG). Mistras
is a global leader in providing technology-enabled asset protection
solutions used to evaluate the structural integrity of critical
energy, industrial, and public infrastructure.
The appeal was heard by a three-judge panel from
Houston's 1st District
Court of Appeals, which issued its ruling on October 22. AZA's appellate win was reported by
the legal publication Law360 in the story
"Oilfield Co. Must Pay Atty Fee Award, Appeals Court
Rules" (subscription required).
Along with its claims of breach of a non-compete agreement
by the employee, Sentinel also sued Mistras and some
of its employees for allegedly interfering with that
agreement.
Ms. Fletcher and AZA partner John
Zavitsanos represented the Mistras defendants in the
original 2011 trial, which concluded with a jury finding that
Mistras and its employees did nothing wrong. The jury awarded
Mistras' employee $750,000 in legal fees for defending the claims
through the time of trial, and additional attorneys' fees if
Sentinel filed an unsuccessful appeal. The award
represented Texas' fourth-largest defense
verdict in 2011, according to the publishers of
VerdictSearch and Texas Lawyer.
"Sentinel's complaint on appeal was that the attorney's
fees were too high, and that it was somehow the trial court's
fault. But as the Court of Appeals noted, the
fees were fully supported by the evidence, found to be proper by
the jury, and awarded by the trial judge," Fletcher
says.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the fee awards, and sent the
case back to the trial court to determine the proper amount of
appellate fees to award. Mr. Zavitsanos says,
"The jury originally granted us appellate fees too and we'll now go
back to the trial court to determine the amount."
The appellate case is Sentinel Integrity Solutions Inc.
v. Mistras Group Inc., et al., No.
01-12-00370-CV.
Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing
P.C., or AZA, is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true
courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex
commercial litigation, including energy, intellectual property,
securities fraud, construction and business dispute cases. AZA is
recognized by U.S. News & World Report and The Best
Lawyers in America as one of the country's best commercial
litigation firms in the 2013 listing of the nation's leading law
firms. National corporate counsel named AZA one of the country's
best in client service among law firms serving the Fortune 1000.
AZA has been hired on many occasions by the same companies the firm
has prevailed against at trial. Read more at
http://www.azalaw.com.
For more information about this AZA win contact Mary Flood at mary@androvett.com or
800-559-4534
SOURCE Ahmad Zavitsanos Anaipakos
Alavi & Mensing P.C. (or AZA)