SELECTED CASE ABSTRACTS
Gladding & Michel has handled thousands of domestic and international legal matters for a wide range of clients over the past forty years. Listed below are representative summaries of recent cases involving: asbestos injury claims, products liability and litigation support, real estate law, complex asset searches, corporate counterintelligence, theft of intellectual property, disputed wills, investor fraud, and employment litigation.
RAISING THE DEAD: THE ULTIMATE WITNESS LOCATE
Client: Automotive Asbestos Defense Counsel
The Plaintiff, an automobile repair hobbyist, claimed automotive asbestos exposure. Our investigation revealed that while working as an electricians helper during the fabrication of various ships including Polaris submarines in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, the Plaintiff and his coworkers were dragging large asbestos insulation blankets around inside the submarines and using them to help heat the hull plates prior to welding and to protect the temporary electrical wiring from hot welding debris. Plaintiff did not wear a mask or coveralls; and was taking the asbestos home with him every night.
In his sworn deposition, Plaintiff testified that during the last 30 years, he had been married four times. Plaintiff further claimed that his first three wives were deceased. Believing this to be statistically improbable, we set about the task of obtaining death certificates and autopsy reports for all three of the Plaintiff's allegedly deceased wives.
When we were unable to locate a death certificate for one of the three women in question in the State where the Plaintiff had sworn that she died, we began to look for a live body instead of a corpus delicti. We subsequently located and interviewed the woman in question, and obtained substantive information from her that was highly prejudicial to the Plaintiff's case.
It was Plaintiff’s “deceased” x-wife who provided us identifying information that led to the witnesses to Plaintiff’s shipyard asbestos exposure.
OCCUPATIONAL ASBESTOS EXPOSURE – Earthquake Shaking
Client: Boiler Defense Counsel
The plaintiff claimed exposure to asbestos while maintaining a boiler manufactured by our client. Our investigation revealed that an earthquake occurred near the factory while the plaintiff was working there. The earthquake released a substantial amount of airborne asbestos by severely shaking asbestos wrapped steam pipes that distributed live steam all over the factory. In addition, the zinc plating filtering system used in the factory was based on the use of a hand mixed asbestos slurry. Early in his career, Plaintiff handled large quantities of dry asbestos powder with no mask.
OCCUPATIONAL ASBESTOS EXPOSURE – Wind Direction
Client: Automotive Defense Counsel
The plaintiff, an automobile paint and body man, claimed automotive asbestos exposure. Our investigation revealed that the mechanical repair shop and the paint shop were in separate buildings. And, the prevailing wind direction blew most of the asbestos generated in the automobile repair shop away from the paint shop where the plaintiff worked. The paint shop was located upwind.
OCCUPATIONAL ASBESTOS EXPOSURE - NOA
Client: Automotive Defense Counsel
Plaintiff claimed automotive asbestos exposure. Our investigation revealed that the Plaintiff only performed a limited amount of automotive repair. In addition, during his youth, the Plaintiff was exposed to asbestos while installing attic insulation and working as a maintenance man in a building that contained asbestos insulated boilers and asbestos insulated pipes.. We were also able to show that the plaintiff formerly lived in the immediate vicinity of an open pit asbestos mine; and that there was naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) in the soil around the plaintiff’s former residence.
Small Property Owner Wins $2,000 per month rent increase - San Francisco
An 84 year old retired small property owner whose rent controlled apartment was generating nearly $2,000 per month less than market rent, became suspicious that her Tenant was living elsewhere. In order to be eligible for San Francisco rent control, tenant's must occupy their rent controlled dwellings as their "principal place of residence".Our initial investigation revealed that the Tenant owned a condominium in Florida. Among other things:
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Tenant claimed a homeowner's exemption for this property.
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Tenant obtained a Florida drivers license, registered a motor vehicle and registered to vote at his Florida address.
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Tenant twice swore under penalty of perjury that he would occupy his Florida Condominium as his principal and primary residence in order to obtain first and second mortgages with owner occupied loan rates.
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And, when Tenant signed the loan papers for his second mortgage in San Francisco, CA, Tenant identified himself with a Florida driver's license.
When confronted with Landlord's SF Rent Board §1.21 Petition for a $2,000 per month rent increase:
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Tenant, a former bank vice-president, claimed that he was told by his loan officer that it was OK to promise to occupy his Florida Condo as his principal and primary residence because it was his "second home". Tenant's claim was adjudged "not credible".
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Tenant claimed that he had received no financial benefit from claiming a homeowner's exemption for his Florida Condominium. When we submitted evidence that the Tenant had received a $903 exemption benefit during the last 24 months, Tenant attempted to rewrite history by refunding the money to his Florida county assessor.
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Despite the fact he speaks 4 languages fluently, Tenant claimed that when he cancelled his San Francisco voter registration, he actually believed that he had filled out a change of address form. We submitted blank voter registration cancellation and change of address forms as rebuttal evidence. And, because the two forms were dramatically dissimilar, Tenant's claim was adjudged "not credible".
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Tenant claimed that his Florida condominium had been rendered uninhabitable by a hurricane, and that it therefore could not be his principal and primary residence. And, Tenant claimed that his rent controlled San Francisco apartment was his "usual place of return".
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Tenant further claimed that he had contracted for $70,000 worth of repairs for his Florida Condominium. We determined that Tenant had failed to obtain a building permit. Tenant was subsequently cited and fined for performing unpermitted work.
Though we were unable to determine precisely where Tenant had been living for the 12 months preceding our Client's petition, Tenant's own evidence established that he had spent 212 of those 365 days in Florida.
The administrative law judge ruled that Tenant's rent controlled Apartment was NOT his principal place of residence.
Landlord's petition for a $2,000 per month rent increase was granted retroactively.
And, the Tenant subsequently vacated the premises.
Client: A U.S. Metal Producer
A U.S. manufacturing firm requested that we investigate unfair competition by a U.S. competitor who had allied with an Asian firm. The firm was alleged to be avoiding higher tariffs on their product by sending it through Latin America , where the country of origin markings were removed and replaced with the Latin American country's markings, to make it appear that the product had been manufactured in the Latin America country. From there, it appeared that the product was being sent by truck from Mexico to Chicago , where it was again re-stamped to make it appear that it was US-made.
We sent our investigator to Latin America , where he was able to identify and photograph the product at the warehouse of the firm that was involved. The client turned this information over to U.S. Customs for further action.
THEFT OF PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
Client: A Silicon Valley Manufacturer of Electronic Laboratory EquipmentA manufacturer of electronic lab equipment had reason to believe that their competitor was stealing trade secrets, including lists of their customers. In addition, they suspected that their competitor was gaining unfair advantage, as the firm could not have been producing their equipment at their regular place of business with the facility and personnel reported in public records. Finally, it appeared that the competitor, who was attacking their firm with expensive and frivolous lawsuits, was gaining access to their legal documents, sometimes within a day of the arrival of the documents in the client's office. Gladding & Michel conducted an electronic countermeasures sweep of the client's office and production facility. Although no bugs were found, we did identify numerous security weaknesses in their telephone and fax system, as well as the protocols for the distribution, storage, and accounting of internal documents, and provided technical assistance in implementing secure control of company documents.
Gladding & Michel also traveled to the site of the client's competition, and determined that they were outsourcing production to an assembly plant in the Southwest. Since the competitor was a privately held company, financial information was not available in public documents. Our analysis of financial records in the competitor's recent divorce file, which had been overlooked by attorneys handling the case, provided up-to-date detailed financial information on the firm. All of this information proved invaluable in the client's bargaining to end the legal attacks by their competitor.
Client: A U.S. Electronics Manufacturer
A U.S. electronics manufacturer suspected that an Asian competitor had given illegal incentives to locate a production facility in Silicon Valley . Gladding & Michel was instructed to find out what incentives had been granted and report to the CEO within one week. City, county, and state governments were very sensitive on this issue, and state officials refused to give access to their files. Armed with our knowledge of the Public Records Act and our research on recent state legislation regarding disclosure of economic incentives that makes all records related to these incentive packages public once the negotiations are concluded, we succeeded in pressuring state officials into opening up their files in Sacramento and San Jose . Our comparison of the files made it clear that certain documents had been purged, but no illegal incentives had been offered. The CEO had the information he needed to reassure his management, board and stockholders that nothing illegal had transpired.
Client: An Asian Investor
A recent arrival from Asia had been introduced to an Asian banker by a recent acquaintance. She was asked to advance funds to the banker so that he could complete a real estate deal. He explained that he would repay her the following week, which he did. At that time, he told her that as a gesture of his appreciation for her help, he wanted to bring her into a very profitable real estate investment. She invested $250,000; her investment failed to generate positive cash flow, and so the other three investors (acting together) advised her that they had to sell the building before more money was lost. She agreed, and the building was sold at a ridiculously low price-to the bank that the banker worked for! Gladding & Michel's investigation revealed that these three partners had ten dummy corporations, most of which existed only on paper. Needless to say, these men were never to be found. Using confidential sources, we located two of the partners and they were forced to appear in court where our client won a $400,000 judgment. Despite the fact that these partners had pulled this scam on numerous occasions, this was the first time anyone had ever succeeded in physically locating them and bringing them to justice.
LOCATING AND INTERVIEWING 200 WITNESSES
Client: A National Car Rental AgencyA national car rental agency was hit with a class action lawsuit by hundreds of former employees. At issue were claims related to conditions of work, unpaid overtime hours and failure to reimburse cash expenses. Gladding and Michel organized a database of over four hundred class members, correlated these subjects to their geographic places of work and former coworkers, and located and interviewed over two hundred former coworkers and managers over four months. The information gathered in this intensive effort resulted in a sizable reduction of the amount of the client's multimillion dollar settlement.
BOW HUNTING BRINGS DOWN A FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT
Client: A U.S. AutomakerA U.S. automaker was served with a multi-million dollar lawsuit for an alleged defect in its product. The plaintiff contended that he had been severely disabled by an auto accident and was unable to practice his profession. Gladding & Michel worked with the defense, which built its case over two years. The plaintiff’s case began to collapse when our investigators located a photograph of the plaintiff posing with an animal he brought down with a bow and arrow. While the case was in trial we located additional proof of the plaintiff's hunting activities at exotic game ranches in Texas and California . The jury returned a verdict exonerating our client.
CONTESTED WILL:
One day, a priest was visiting an ethnic cemetery and noticed that a burial was in progress. When he inquired, he found out the person being buried was a long-time member of his church! It seems that this 90-year-old had died and been quasi-clandestinely buried, unbeknownst to his friends and parishioners. Meanwhile, his assets were being grabbed by a mysterious woman who had recently introduced herself to him as a long-lost relative. Gladding & Michel’s investigation uncovered a tangled web of connections within this ethnic community, and numerous inconsistencies in the statements of the mystery woman along with disturbing misrepresentations of his cause of death. This investigation led to our cooperation with local law enforcement regarding a possible homicide. Meanwhile, the rightful heirs were able to prevent the misappropriation of the deceased's considerable assets.
WRONGFUL TERMINATION OF A WHISTLEBLOWER
A newly hired manager of a LIMO discovered that her firm was not performing on a large contract it held with the state government, and was instead skimming millions of dollars off the top in "administrative costs." The manager attempted to get the company to perform on the contract and was rebuffed. She went to the state regulatory agency and advised them of the situation; the state investigated and the LIMO lost the contract and was fined millions of dollars. However, the manager lost her job. Through a series of highly sensitive interviews with other female employees, Gladding & Michel determined that the corporate officer who fired her had a long history of sexual harassment. Uncovering this history strengthened her legal claim that she was the target of his revenge for both corporate and personal reasons and allowed her to prevail.