On May 1, 2018, a federal court jury in Chicago returned a complete defense verdict for Vedder Price’s client, a global logistics solutions company. In 2014, a commercial trucking company vendor of the logistics solutions company sued and attempted to enforce certain attorneys’ fee-shifting language in the trucking company’s invoices sent after the trucking company rendered commercial trucking services on behalf of the logistics solutions company. The jury was asked to decide whether the parties’ long “course of dealing”–which included the trucking company’s use of a template invoice with attorneys’ fee-shifting language, and which language the logistics solutions company did not expressly object to, despite that it continued to do business with the trucking company in over 1,000 delivery transactions–established a common basis of understanding between them that the attorneys’ fee-shifting language was a part of each of their agreements under which trucking services were rendered. The jury found entirely in favor of Vedder Price’s client, determining that the attorneys’ fee-shifting language was not a part of the parties’ agreements.

Vedder Price Shareholder Jim Garvey was lead trial counsel for the defense, and he had substantial assistance throughout from Vedder Price attorney Rebecca Dandy. “Of course we believe the jury came to the right conclusion,” Mr. Garvey stated. “We appreciate that the jury carefully considered the evidence, and then followed the court’s instructions on the law. The litigation was long and hard fought, and we and our client are pleased with the outcome.”