Case Studies & Representative Matters

Case Study: the New Owners

Industry: E-Commerce Software Customization

Problem: A loyal customer did not pay bills for e-commerce software customization services for over eight months. Because our client had a great relationship with their customer's COO and their tech team, they continued to deliver services without getting paid.

Diagnosis: Our research revealed that the customer had recently been purchased by foreign-based owners. Because we had worked with companies in the owners' native country, we were able to recognize their strategy. In some countries, business owners may simply stop paying vendors in order to "stress test" their importance, on the theory that mission-critical vendors will speak up quickly and less important companies will quietly disappear.

Our Approach: With our understanding of the new ownership's strategic techniques, we were able to put together a polite but aggressive communication strategy. We made it clear to the owners that our services were mission-critical, and that our client was unwilling to tolerate future delays or failures to pay.

Outcome: The customer paid all outstanding invoices within three business days, then placed new order for services valued at 2x the previously outstanding amounts.

Case Study: the Unhappy Business Owner

Industry: Business Management Software

Problem: Our client was contacted for emergency help by an existing customer. The customer pleaded for our client's staff to work overtime and through weekends to restore the proper operation of his business management software. After our client delivered the services to his satisfaction, the business owner decided to change software platforms entirely, and did not pay for the emergency services he had demanded.

Diagnosis: The customer's frustration was understandable. His software platform failed at a critical time, and he was forced to conclude that he could no longer rely on it. Changing software platforms is slow and expensive. It is perfectly reasonable for him to delay and avoid paying for services related to the old software platform.

Our Approach: Being reasonable is not the same as being right. The customer was obligated to pay for the services he requested. Because he had previously ignored communications from our client's customer team and CEO, our first contact threatened aggressive pursuit of all possible recovery (i.e., compound interest from the date of each invoice), contractual penalties, attorneys fees, and recovery of costs). The customer was initially apologetic, then attempted to deny he owed the money. In response, we carefully explained that any offer to reduce his net liability was time-sensitive, dependent on his cooperation, and would not be repeated in the future.

Outcome: Because the customer offered immediate payment and did actually pay promptly (same day), we advised our client to accept 100 percent payment of the outstanding invoice amounts and to waive the accrued penalties.

Representative Matters

European Commission and U.S. Department of Justice v. Malaysia Airlines: antitrust

Michael A. Morales v. California Warden of Prisons: constitutional law

Coca-Cola v. PalletMasters: unfair competition

John Doe v. the Gorilla Foundation: employment and intellectual property

Dallas Texans v. U.S. Soccer Federation: international arbitration

We've Represented Clients in Successful Commercial Negotiations with:
Microsoft
Meta (Facebook)
Alphabet (Google)
Airbnb
Instacart

We've Represented Clients in Successful Corporate Transactions (M&A) with:
Cisco Systems Inc.
Symantec Corporation
Databricks
VeriSign
Radiant Entertainment, Inc.