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Business Litigation

 
Cooch and Taylor attorneys have represented clients in assessing and resolving complex disputes in a broad range of contexts. Representations in Delaware courts in the past years have included: a plastic manufacturer that recovered damages through settlement of a claim for the breach of an exclusive distributor contract; two former employees in the defense of a breach of a restrictive employment covenant; a former executive in defending a claim for the claw back of exercised stock options based on alleged breaches of covenants not to compete, solicit employees or disclose confidential information; a company in a suit alleging breaches of a confidentiality agreement incident to acquisition discussions; an international company in claims for contractual indemnification damages arising from a licensing agreement. 
 

Construction Defect Litigation

 
The firm’s litigation attorneys are highly experienced representing both sides involved in construction defect matters for several decades.  In particular they have litigated issues arising from water leaks and intrusions, including defective stucco.  Their clients have included individual home and condominium owners, homeowner and condominium owner associations, developers, contractors, and subcontractors throughout Delaware. 

 

Corporate Litigation

 
The attorneys in Cooch and Taylor’s litigation department regularly litigate matters involving Delaware General Corporation Law.  They have significant experience in litigating corporate disputes, alleged fiduciary duty breaches, and Section 220 demands and enforcement actions.  Representing members and managers, they also litigate matters involving limited liability companies and limited partnerships.  Cooch and Taylor’s attorneys have litigated these matters in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, and Delaware’s Supreme Court.  
    

Delaware (Local) Counsel

 
Cooch and Taylor attorneys have routinely partnered with out of state law firms as their local counsel for decades.  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has ranked Delaware’s judiciary as the best in the country for 14 straight years, based on factors such as judge competence, treatment of litigation, and timeliness.  Delaware and its judges take pride in these accolades and strive to be the best year in and year out.  Because Delaware’s judges are only able to provide this level of service to litigants with the assistance of counsel, Delaware’s judges have strict expectations for all counsel appearing before them.  Out of state attorneys appearing pro hac vice for the first time in Delaware are often unaccustomed to the formalities and expectations associated with practicing in Delaware.  Cooch and Taylor has over half a century of experience in ensuring its clients and co-counsel meet the judges’ expectations.

 

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Defense

 
The firm’s attorneys defend commercial entities, including banks, credit unions, debt collectors, and credit reporting agencies, against claims brought under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
 

Insurance Coverage Litigation

 
Our attorneys have represented parties in complex and significate insurance disputes. Representations have included a national automobile insurer as lead counsel in defeating a class action both in the trial court and the Delaware Supreme Court on a coverage issue of first impression; several related U.S. corporations facing catastrophic claims arising from the 9/11 tragedy in a declaratory judgment action regarding their rights to primary and excess liability insurance; various excess insurers in the defense of claims for coverage under directors and officers liability insurance policies; a claims first made insurer regarding statutory claims awarding damages far in excess of any reasonable compensation; excess insurers on issues of coverage for toxic tort liabilities and product liabilities.
 

Personal Injury Litigation

 
For over forty years, the attorneys in Cooch and Taylor’s litigation department have successfully litigated and tried hundreds of negligence and personal injury actions in the Delaware Superior Court and before the Industrial Accident Board of the State of Delaware on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants.  Our attorneys have extensive experience representing individuals who have been injured in motor vehicle and work-related accidents, slip and falls, and animal attacks. Cooch and Taylor’s attorneys also have an extensive history defending companies and individuals in a wide variety of litigation including personal injury, worker’s compensation, construction, products and insurance coverage litigation. They are committed to delivering the quality and personal attention, individuals, insurers, and self-insured businesses expect in a professional, efficient, and cost effective manner.
 

Products Liability

 
Attorneys at Cooch and Taylor have defended corporations against claims for products liability.  Products involved have ranged from various types of large industrial equipment to clean rooms.  Representations have included the defense and successful settlement of multiple claims for birth defects allegedly arising from exposure to one of its products; an international company as Delaware counsel in the defense of claims that trace benzene amounts can cause acute myelogenous leukemia. Attorneys at Cooch and Taylor have successfully argued the cases which determined that there is no strict tort liability in Delaware, established the sophisticated purchaser defense, established the causal nexus required in toxic tort cases, and rejected claims for cancer phobia unaccompanied by injury or disease.  They have successfully argued the first case in the Delaware Supreme Court to address the application of Daubert principles to alleged experts in a toxic tort case, and have successfully defended businesses in cases involving industrial and agricultural chemical exposures, silicone breast implants, industrial machinery, motor vehicles, consumer, and food products.  The attorneys in Cooch and Taylor's litigation department also have extensive experience in asbestos litigation.  Among Cooch and Taylor attorneys is one of the initial court appointed coordinators of the insurer defense group in Delaware. They have defended numerous corporations manufacturing construction material, friction products, and many types of industrial equipment.

 

Realtor and Real Estate Agent Liability Defense

 
Through aggressive discovery practice and the use of qualified and respected expert witnesses, the attorneys in Cooch and Taylor’s litigation department have substantial experience in successfully defending error and omission claims made against realtors and other real estate professionals who are held to specific standards when representing their clients.
 

Trade Secret Litigation

 
Cooch and Taylor’s attorneys have extensive experience litigating trade secret misappropriation.  This experience includes successfully establishing that a well-known, global information technology company had willfully and maliciously stolen a trade secret from a former vendor, through a three week jury trial in the Delaware Superior Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division.  The firm is well equipped to pursue or defend claims for monetary damages or injunctive relief.