By David Hricik, Mercer Law School
A “verein” is a legal entity recognized under Swiss law somewhat similar to an association. Several law firms are organized this way, including Dentons. Dentons agreed to represent a patentee, Revolaze LLC, in an ITC proceeding when another “arm” of Dentons represented one defendant, The Gap.
The Gap moved to disqualify, arguing that Dentons was a single law firm and so it could not be adverse to its own client. The ITC agreed, and disqualified Dentons.
The patentee then sued for damages caused by the disqualification. On February 20, and Ohio jury awarded what is reported to be the largest malpractice verdict in Ohio history, over $32 million. Presumably, the damages were in part caused by the rapid pace of an ITC proceeding, but the details I know of are sketchy.
There are articles about the case, one behind a paywall (here) and the other not, but it seems mostly based on a conversation with the plaintiff’s lawyers, here.