[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] 
[/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”3_4″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]By Mark Curriden
Exis Capital Management, a New York-based hedge fund, was facing trial in 2011 after being sued by Fairfax Financial for allegedly shorting the stock of a Canadian insurance company and spreading a false negative tip about the firm. The case, charging racketeering, commercial disparagement and tortious interferences, clearly wasn’t going well.
Facing a potential verdict of tens-of-millions of dollars, Exis Capital officials hired Dick Sayles and his law firm to take over the defense just weeks before the case was set to go to trial in Morristown, NJ.
“The case was fully developed when the client hired us on the eve of trial,” Sayles says.
The New Jersey trial judge seemingly granted the plaintiff’s lawyers every motion and kept pushing Exis Capital to settle.
“We rented 20 hotel rooms near the courthouse for 30 nights because we fully expected to go to trial,” Sayles says. “But the judge kept putting off the start of the trial. Finally, I asked the judge in open court when he was going to call in the jury.”
The judge then stunned the courtroom when he announced he was granting Sayles’ motion to dismiss the case.
“We were stunned and thrilled,” Sayles says. “And it shows that you always need to keep fighting, even when you think all is lost.”
A 1974 graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, Sayles has taken more than 150 cases to trial and won more than a dozen jury verdicts of a million dollars or more, including a $63.8 million victory for Texas-based Commil in a patent infringement case against computer networking giant Cisco Systems Inc.
Sayles’ first job was at Carrington, Coleman, Slomen & Blumenthal where he worked directly for legendary lawyer Jim Coleman.
“Best decision of my career,” Sayles says. “Jim encouraged us to develop and try cases. I was so proud to go to court and be identified as one of ‘Jimmy’s boys.’
“Jim Coleman believed if you are a good trial lawyer, you could try anything from a dog bite case to an airplane crash case,” he says. “This may be an era of legal specialization, but we still have the same rules of evidence and procedure, the same juries and the same judges. By the way, I have tried everything from a dog bite case to an airplane case.”
Sayles’ first jury trial came in early 1975 – just a few months out of law school. He represented John Deere Corp. in a breach of contract case against one of its dealers, who had falsified documents.
The trial lasted three days. The jury ruled for John Deere and awarded $7,000 in damages.
“Jim assigned me seven cases, including the Deere case, and they all went to trial,” Sayles says. “I won all seven trials. I thought I had the secret to success and would never lose a case.”
In 1979, he defended Deere in a products liability case in which a cotton farmer in the Texas Panhandle was killed while trying to fix broken Deere equipment.
The jury found for the plaintiff and awarded more than $1 million in damages.
“I discovered losing hurts and that I hated losing,” he says. “$1 million was a lot of money, too. “
Sayles became a partner at Carrington Coleman in 1981. During the next several years, he and Coleman tried several cases together. They represented Hudson Oil in a lawsuit brought by an individual who helped the oil and gas company buy a refinery and wanted a commission for his work.
The plaintiff demanded tens-of-millions of dollars in a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders. The jury deliberated only a couple hours before finding in favor of Hudson Oil.
In 1994, Sayles decided to leave Carrington Coleman to start his own law firm with two other Dallas lawyers. Two years later, Mark Werbner joined Sayles.
“It was the most bitter-sweet moment of my life,” Sayles says. “I called Jim on a Saturday. It was just Jim and me. I told him I was going to chart my own course and start my own firm and that I planned to take three lawyers with me.
“I hope you’re not disappointed in me,” Sayles told his mentor.
“Dick,” Coleman responded, “the only way I would ever be disappointed in you is if you don’t aim for the stars and make it.”
“The class and integrity and dignity of Jim Coleman has never wavered,” Sayles says. “He is one of the bravest warriors you could ever imagine.”
Sayles used his own savings to help fund the new firm. He says he was fortunate to land a personal injury case soon after opening. The firm worked the case aggressively, and achieved a good settlement for the client.
In 2002, John Deere hired Sayles to defend the company in two separate products liability trials. In both cases, plaintiffs were users of Deere products who claimed that the products caused them serious injuries. Both plaintiffs demanded millions of dollars in damages.
Each trial lasted four days and both resulted in defense verdicts. One jury took just 22 minutes to rule for Deere.
In 2004, the City of Dallas hired Sayles to represent the city in a series of federal lawsuits filed by individuals who had been framed by Dallas police who planted pool chalk on them and claimed it was cocaine.
“I wanted to be fair, so I offered an agreement to the victims that I would stipulate liability if they would agree to cap any damage award to less than $400,000,” he says.
The lawyer for Erubiel Cruz agreed and took the cash. But lawyers for Victor DeLeon rejected the offer, risking instead going to trial in hopes of winning a larger verdict.
“Sadly, the jury ruled in my favor and the poor plaintiff got nothing,” Sayles says. “His lawyer would not let him settle. I felt bad for him.”
In 2009, Centocor Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson, hired Sayles to be co-counsel in a patent infringement case involving a popular arthritis medication, Humira.
Sayles handled jury selection, presented the plaintiff’s damage expert and gave the final closing argument to the jury.
The jury’s verdict at the end of the eight-day trial: $1.67 billion, which is the largest patent verdict in U.S. history.
“When the judge read the verdict, it was an out-of-body experience,” Sayles says. “I don’t think my feet touched the ground for blocks.”[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]