Business and Commercial 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.
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.
Construction Defect Litigation
The firm’s litigation attorneys are highly experienced representing both sides involved in construction defect matters for 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.
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.
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.
Intellectual Property Litigation
Cooch and Taylor’s attorneys are leaders in the field of protecting companies’ intellectual property rights. Our litigation attorneys have secured large judgments on behalf of companies where intellectual property rights were being violated as well as successfully defended companies from the now, all too common, meritless patent infringement lawsuits. Our litigation team regularly handles expedited litigation in all of Delaware’s trial courts and is well equipped to move as fast as is often necessary to protect our clients’ interests.
Trade Secret Litigation
Cooch and Taylor’s attorneys have extensive experience litigating trade secret misappropriation claims. 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 also regularly defends companies, both small and large, against misappropriation claims. Our litigators are fortunate to be able to call upon the firm’s well-respected employment law practitioners to assist with addressing questions related to non-compete, non-disclosure, or similar agreements that are often intertwined with trade secret litigation.
Patent Litigation
The Firm’s attorneys have significant experience serving as Delaware counsel to both national and international companies in patent infringement disputes. Our attorneys routinely guide out of state or national counsel through the many pitfalls associated with practicing in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The Firm’s wide range of practice areas allows our attorneys to appear regularly before all of the District Court judges. Our attorneys have not only learned those judge’s unwritten rules and preferences but also established positive working relationships with the judges and their staff.
Business and Commercial Bankruptcy
Cooch and Taylor’s Business and Commercial Bankruptcy practice has evolved and expanded during the last thirty years to include the representation of liquidating trustees and broad involvement in a significant number of large Chapter 11 cases filed in the District of Delaware. The Business and Commercial Bankruptcy group also has extensive experience in diverse bankruptcy litigation matters including commercial real estate, and union and pension fund representation. While handling sophisticated matters, the Firm's bankruptcy attorneys pride themselves on providing personalized service to all their individual and corporate clients.
The bankruptcy attorneys represent a broad array of creditors in Chapter 11 cases including secured and unsecured creditors, trade creditors, landlords, equipment lessors, governmental entities and others. They also represent parties in multiple types of bankruptcy litigation matters before the United States Bankruptcy Court, the United States District Court and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. They have been involved in thousands of preference and fraudulent conveyance actions on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, including litigating these actions through trial and subsequent appeal. Through these diverse representations, the department has become adept at handling liquidation proceedings as well as reorganizational and other commercial, transactional, and litigation issues.
In addition to the direct representation of clients, the department also provides Delaware local counsel services for out-of-state lawyers.
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.
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.
General Litigation
Not all litigation may be neatly pigeon-holed. Cooch and Taylor lawyers have litigated trust and estate disputes, mechanics liens, collection matters, employment related controversies and other matters.