More than two years after Jenkens & Gilchrist closed its doors as a law firm, attorneys from Sayles Werbner walked out of a Dallas courtroom with a multi-million breach of contract verdict on behalf of the firm. Attorney Mark Werbner successfully argued in trial that the now-closed firm is still entitled to revenue from a former client's patent licensing program. The breach of contract trial hinged on an agreement between Jenkens & Gilchrist and Forgent (now known as Asure Software Inc.) in which Forgent agreed to pay the firm a percentage of fees from a patent licensing program. When Jenkens & Gilchrist ceased operations two years ago, Forgent stopped paying the fees. "When you boil it down, this lawsuit was about Forgent's failure to keep a promise it made to the law firm," says Werbner.
Texas Lawyer's Ex Parte blog notes that the plaintiffs spurned three different settlement offers, the highest of which was $2.45 million, and proceeded to trial. The decision paid off with a jury award that(with prejudgment interest) was more than a million dollars more than the final settlement offer.