Highly Successful General Dentistry Practice
Client Background
Highly successful, Oakland, CA.-based general dentistry practice with more than 200 patients and annual revenue of 1.2M.
Client Situation
Our client sought FAB's help in resolving a dispute with the seller of the dental practice. When our client bought the practice they discovered the sellers has misrepresented the health and size of the practice. The sellers also had not disclosed that they had been accepting clients into their practice's other location, thereby avoiding paying contractual costs to the new owner.
Primary Goals
Our clients wanted to recover contractual damages and establish a protocol addressing the anticompetitive practices of the seller. This protocol would allow both dental practices to handle migrating patients fairly and without further dispute.
Anticipated Problems
Our attorneys encountered challenges in establishing the true number of migrating patients due to HIPAA concerns. Additionally, there were difficulties in establishing that migrating patients fell within the contractual damages provisions set forth in the purchase agreement.
Service Summary
Our attorneys suggested ADR to the adverse party as a way to save the time and expense of going to court. The adverse party rejected these attempts to settle the case. Once the case went to trial the aggressive motion practice our attorneys used to achieve pre-trial determinations of legal questions streamlined the process.
Results
The court determined as a matter of law that the seller had a legal duty to pay our client contractual damages. Our clients received a favorable jury on all causes of action. The end result was a satisfied client and a successful recording of judgment against the seller.