Unanimous Jury Verdict in Contract and Non-Compete Case

HOUSTON, Texas (March 11, 2011) — A team from BoyarMiller’s Litigation Group, led by firm Chairman Chris Hanslik, successfully represented two CPAs, David Grossman and Jeff Houston, as plaintiffs, against their former firm – MaloneBailey LLP. A unanimous jury awarded Grossman and Houston $1.3 million based on the accounting firm’s failure to pay amounts owed them following their separation from the firm, including amounts owed for the repurchase of their shares of stock in the accounting firm. They also found that John Malone breached fiduciary duties.

The jury also unanimously rejected a counterclaim filed by MaloneBailey in which the firm sought more than $750,000 in damages based on alleged breaches of overly restrictive non-compete provisions, confidentiality provisions, and buy-sell provisions contained in Grossman and Houston’s employment agreements which would have required that they pay the firm for future services provided by their new firm, GBH CPAs, PC.

Additional members of the BoyarMiller team providing substantial representation included Shareholder Matt Veech and Associate Andrew Pearce.

“The team assembled by BoyarMiller and led by Chris Hanslik correctly identified the critical issues relevant to the dispute; determined the appropriate application of the law to support our position; protected our legal position throughout the case; and seamlessly executed the strategy for the case. BoyarMiller’s representation won a favorable judgment from the jury on all elements of the case. During the course of the litigation, all team members at BoyarMiller successfully argued before the court and substantially contributed to the prosecution of the case which demonstrated to us the depth of the talent at the firm. At the conclusion of the trial, Chris delivered the most compelling closing argument I could imagine,” stated Jeff Houston.