LITIGATIONRESULTS - Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek SC

WHD Successfully Defends
Claims of Conspiracy,
Tortious Interference with
Contract and Defamation
In Quad/Graphics, Inc. v. One2One Communications, LLC and Bruce
Heverly, et al., WHD represented the former management group of Openfirst,
LLC, a direct mail and billing statement production company which was
acquired by Quad/Graphics, Inc. in 2006. In 2002, Openfirst had entered
into a contractual arrangement with Bruce Heverly, who had contacts in the
cable television services industry. Under the arrangement, Mr. Heverly would
procure customer contracts for billing statement processing and printing to
be performed by Openfirst in Milwaukee. In 2007, Openfirst terminated its
relationship with Mr. Heverly and his company, One2One Communications,
LLC, after it discovered that One2One Communications and Mr. Heverly were
diverting business from Openfirst to a production facility in Bolingbrook, Ill.,
owned by One2One Communications.
Quad/Graphics commenced suit against Bruce Heverly and One2One
Communications, for, among other things, breach of contract, breach of
fiduciary duty, and tortious interference with contract. Mr. Heverly and One2One
Communications counterclaimed against Quad/Graphics, and filed a third-party
complaint against the former management group of Openfirst, alleging claims
for tortious interference with contract, defamation, and conspiracy to willfully
or maliciously injure Mr. Heverly’s reputation, trade or business in violation of
Wis. Stat. § 134.01. The third-party claims were based upon statements made
by the management group to Openfirst’s customers to save their business
after discovering that the third-party plaintiffs had been diverting business to
the Bolingbrook facility. One2One Communications and Bruce Heverly sought
compensatory and punitive damages against the management group for an
amount in excess of $20 million.
After a two-week jury trial presided over by Judge J.P. Stadtmueller in the
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the jury returned a
verdict on the third-party claims entirely in favor of the management group
and their former company, Openfirst, LLC.
greer
posnanski
Litigation Type: Breach of contract
Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
Lead WHD Counsel: James Greer and Timothy Posnanski
Principal WHD Team Members: James Greer, Timothy Posnanski,
Pamela Price (paralegal)
Practice Areas Involved: Litigation
22 LITIGATION RESULTS