Congratulations to Thorpe Shwer attorneys Bill Thorpe and Lorena Van Assche who recently obtained a trial victory on behalf of a Fortune 500 client. The case arose out of a commercial lease dispute related to the condition of the property when tenant vacated, with three parties and well over a million dollars at issue.
After extensive discovery and hard-fought summary judgment briefing, the case culminated in a two-week jury trial in the Superior Court of Maricopa County, Arizona. Bill and Lorena were some of the first litigators to participate in an Arizona state civil jury trial since COVID-19 restrictions were eased. During the tenant’s case-in-chief, Bill and Lorena effectively cross-examined the tenant’s witnesses, and Lorena elicited favorable testimony for the client from the expert witnesses retained by the other parties. When the tenant rested its case, Bill and Lorena moved for judgment as a matter of law on all of tenant’s claims against the client, which the Court granted in full, finding that the tenant did not meet its burden of proof on its claims such that it would be improper to even submit those claims to the jury. The court subsequently awarded Thorpe Shwer’s client the overwhelming majority of its requested attorneys’ fees.
Bill and Lorena were assisted by attorneys Jamie Gill Santos and Mitch Fleischmann, and paralegal Raquel Gomez.