March 26, 2014
Saiber LLC, along with co-counsel at Ropes & Gray LLP, successfully moved to dismiss a tortious interference suit brought by the sellers of a financial products company. Those sellers had brought claims of tortious interference with prospective economic relations, tortious interference with contract, and civil conspiracy, all raised in connection with the failure of their former business to meet performance targets that would have netted them additional monies.
Accepting our client’s arguments, Senior United States District Judge Anne Thompson found that the sellers lost any standing to sue for tortious interference with prospective relations when they sold the business to another entity. She also found that the Complaint failed to plead that the defendants were purposely interfering with any existing contracts, despite the allegations that they did so in order to block additional payments to the plaintiffs.
Finally, the Court determined that the two defendants – a corporate subsidiary and its principal – were legally incapable of conspiring with each other or with the corporation. As a result, Judge Thompson dismissed the matter in full.
Along with Robert Fischler of Ropes & Gray LLP, who argued for the dismissal, Saiber attorneys Arnold B. Calmann and Jakob B. Halpern were on the successful brief.
