Illustrative cases:
United States District Court. Recently, O’Rourke & Associates concluded a three-year representation of several individual and corporate defendants arising from an adversarial proceeding brought in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut. Ryan v. Smith, (J. Squatrito), D.N. 3:99cv284. The case involved a multi-count Complaint alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty against former officers and directors. In addition, we filed counterclaims alleging fraud and malfeasance against the plaintiffs.
In representing its clients in the Ryan v. Smith matter, O’Rourke & Associates matched its resources against several institutional law firms that had been retained by the Trustee in Bankruptcy, as well as the Unsecured Creditors Committee and Debtor in Possession. This litigation involved conducting direct and cross examination on preliminary pre-trial hearings, drafting and arguing a number of substantive motions, conducting many depositions and ultimately negotiating a favorable settlement on the eve of trial with the intervention of the presiding United States District Court Judge.
United
States District Court. O’Rourke & Associates
successfully represented an industry leading document imaging company bringing
a federal action in the United States District Court in Connecticut
alleging breach of an employment agreement and violation of restrictive
covenants against an employee who took a new job with a competitor. Danka v. Xerox, (J. Covello), D.N. 3:01cv1952 (AVC).
In this litigation, O’Rourke & Associates crafted the
complaint and prayer for injunctive relief and then represented
its clients at a hearing held on a motion for preliminary injunction.
After an evidentiary record was created, we obtained a permanent
injunction achieving substantially all of the objectives of the
client.
United
States District Court. O’Rourke & Associates
represented the defendants in a federal action where it was alleged
that the defendants had violated United States copyright law, and
otherwise violated various commercial agreements. Hall's v. Media
Analysts, Inc., (J. Hall), D.N. 3:97cv00492 (JCH).
In this litigation, O’Rourke & Associates obtained a
jury verdict in favor of its clients after a week-long trial. Ultimately,
O’Rourke & Associates successfully represented its clients
before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Connecticut
Appellate Court. O’Rourke & Associates represented
the plaintiff in a trial in the Connecticut Superior Court concerning
a contract dispute with the defendant involving the purchase of
a two million dollar Italian yacht by plaintiff. After the favorable trial
verdict for plaintiff, the defendant filed an appeal with the Connecticut
Appellate Court, and, in turn, plaintiff filed a cross appeal. O’Rourke
& Associates prosecuted the cross appeal asking the Appellate
Court to increase the size of the judgment that was obtained at
the trial court level. The Connecticut Appellate Court rejected
the defendant’s appeal, and affirmed O’Rourke &
Associates’ appellate arguments, doubling the
total judgment for plaintiff to $200,000.00. Ultimately, O’Rourke
& Associates was successful in staving off defendant’s
petition for certification to the Connecticut Supreme Court, and
collected the judgment (coupled with post judgment interest) in
favor of its client. Keefe v. Norwalk Cove Marina, 57 Conn. App.
601 (2000).
American
Arbitration Association. O’Rourke &
Associates represented an individual in a claim filed with the American
Arbitration Association against a leading technology company after the technology company refused to honor a license
agreement entered into with the client. After extensive discovery
and an exchange of pleadings, O’Rourke & Associates was
able to obtain a very favorable settlement involving a payment of
more than one million dollars to its client.
Value:
In each of the above litigations, O’Rourke & Associates
was able to operate on a very sophisticated level, matching its
advocacy talents against the resources of much larger law firms.
At the end of each of these litigations, O’Rourke & Associates
obtained very favorable results based upon the initial objectives
of the client.
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Commercial Representation
O’Rourke & Associates represents clients in a number of commercial contexts, including corporate formation, asset and stock sales, commercial leases, license agreements, employer/employee matters and general contract drafting.
Illustrative work:
Outside
General Counsel. O’Rourke & Associates acts as
outside general counsel for a mid-sized industrial company based
in Connecticut that does not have in-house counsel. In that role,
O’Rourke & Associates has represented its client in defending
asbestos personal injury claims, employer/employee matters, contractual
disputes, drafting of terms and conditions of sale, assisted in
the retention and oversight of outside counsel in various jurisdictions throughout
the United States, and assisted in the due diligence involved in
the sale of a division of the Company.
Corporate
Formation. Regulatory Work. O’Rourke & Associates acted as outside counsel for a national real estate company. In that capacity, O’Rourke & Associates has performed the formation work, and worked with outside professionals in the raising of the initial financing for the business. In addition, O’Rourke & Associates has assisted its client in obtaining trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and has otherwise handled real estate and other regulatory matters affecting the company.
Commercial
Real Estate. Recently, O’Rourke & Associates
represented a commercial landowner in Greenwich, Connecticut who
entered into a long-term lease with an institutional bank based
in New York City seeking to open up a large branch office presence
in Greenwich. Such lease involved negotiation of several sophisticated
covenants, including building and zoning conditions, structural
warranties and environmental indemnifications.
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Individual Representation
O’Rourke & Associates represents individuals with discrete
personal needs.
The firm has used its trial experience and provided civil and criminal
representation for individual clients who have found themselves
in need of such representation. Such criminal representation has included
handling DWI representation at the criminal and administrative levels
in which convictions were successfully averted. Further, O’Rourke
& Associates has successfully represented both juvenile offenders
and young adult children of its individual clients in criminal court
proceedings.
O’Rourke & Associates has, on occasion, represented clients
who are purchasing or selling substantial residential real estate
in the Fairfield County area. Such representation has included interacting
with builders in the negotiation of sophisticated construction contracts,
interaction with planning and zoning officials, including the issuance
of building permits and certificates of occupancy to complete financings
and certain subdivision work.
In addition, O’Rourke & Associates has worked together
with outside counsel to prepare certain estate documents, including
wills and trust instruments.
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