CASE IN POINT

Technology Integration Group, Inc. (TIG) is a national IT solutions integrator and value–added reseller based in San Diego. In 2004, TIG opened a Tampa office which quickly grew to become one of TIG’s top offices. In January 2007, TIG’s Tampa employees alerted TIG’s management that its then Tampa branch manager was planning to open a new office in Tampa for a competitor, FusionStorm, and had already started transferring TIG’s employees and customers to FusionStorm.

TIG immediately contacted San Diego partner Craig Schloss. Within two weeks, Morrison & Foerster filed a complaint, won a temporary restraining order that enjoined FusionStorm from soliciting additional TIG employees and from conducting business with certain of TIG’s customers, and started expedited discovery.

San Diego associate Stephanie Fong (then a third year associate) became the lead associate on the case in 2008 and San Francisco partner Arturo González came in to lead the TIG trial team. Three months before the original trial date, defendants changed their strategy. They changed from one joint defense counsel to six different law firms. Four of the seven individual defendants then chose to assert the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify.

The case ultimately went to trial in June 2010. As the lead associate, Stephanie had been involved in virtually every aspect of developing the case in discovery and then preparing it for trial. She propounded and responded to discovery, drafted and argued discovery motions, deposed high level executives, led meet and confer discussions with multiple opposing counsel, helped prepare fact and expert witnesses, identified trial exhibits and participated in developing trial strategies and decisions. At trial, Stephanie sat next to Arturo every day at counsels’ table and she cross-examined an expert witness.

Following the five-week trial, the jury in San Francisco Superior Court returned a $9.36 million verdict in favor of TIG on all claims. The jury also found that punitive damages were warranted against each of the defendants.

According to Stephanie, “The case exploded in June 2009 when six new law firms joined and tried to re-litigate the entire case in a span of a couple of months. We quickly pulled together a team of partners, associates and staff from four offices to respond to the sudden onslaught of discovery and motion practice. There was a tremendous show of support from the firm and other offices. Also, because of my work on the case, the partners gave me every chance to step up and participate at trial. If you show them that you’re willing to work hard and want responsibility, then they will keep finding opportunities for you to grow. As a result, in the last six months, I’ve gained more exposure and learned more about being a trial lawyer than many of my colleagues at other law firms.”