Sean Higgins Named Appellate Lawyer of the Week for Multi-Million Dollar Verdict Reversal

December 21, 2018

Houston Partner Sean Higgins has been named Appellate Lawyer of the Week by the Texas Lawyer, part of Law.com, for his recent reversal of a $12.7 million business fraud verdict for a client.

Houston, Texas (December 21, 2018) – Houston Partner Sean Higgins has been named Appellate Lawyer of the Week by the Texas Lawyer, part of Law.com, for his recent reversal of a $12.7 million business fraud verdict for a client.

The case involved a business deal between two manufacturing companies, our client, Cargotec Corp., and Logan Industries, that fell apart in 2011. Eventually, Logan sued Cargotec for lost profits, and, after a six-day trial, a Waller County jury awarded Logan the $12.7 million verdict.

On appeal to Houston’s 14th Court of Appeals, Mr. Higgins argued that Logan’s evidence was legally insufficient to support the verdict, a position the appellate court agreed with, ruling that the testimony from Logan’s business valuation expert was unsupported by object facts, figures or data.

Mr. Higgins commented for the Texas Lawyer that he was happy with the decision. “They did nothing wrong and made a serious attempt at a business acquisition,” he said. “What the court latched on to was the verdict rested on complete speculation and evidence that really should have never been admitted at trial.”

“The plaintiff could not really articulate any business that was lost,” Mr. Higgins continued. “And, as a matter of fact, they admitted on cross-examination that the business was not injured. But we can’t overlook that the court found that there was no evidence that my client did anything wrong.’’

Lewis Brisbois congratulates Mr. Higgins on this successful appeal and the designation from the Texas Lawyer.

You can read the full article from the Texas Lawyer here (subscription may be required)