Associate Bill Smart recently settled for nuisance value on day 3 of a jury trial in New Hampshire Federal District Court that was expected to last at least two weeks. Our client, a bookbinding company, and the co-defendants, an offset printing company, its president, and employee, settled for a total amount that was nearly half of what was offered prior to trial, and about $250,000 less than plaintiff’s attorney’s fees. It was a very unique case that arose out of the printing and binding of a “coffee table” book.
Plaintiff claimed that the approximately 1500 books produced for commercial distribution had a variety of printing and binding flaws, which defendants’ disputed. Our defense was that the plaintiff’s chief book designer was inexperienced, and had expectations of perfection and strength that were not reasonable, and were ultimately impossible to satisfy despite exhaustive efforts. The wealthy plaintiff refused a full refund, and instead financed and aggressively litigated the case for over three years, refusing to settle, and defying all logic and common sense. The plaintiff submitted 323 exhibits, plus 651 books, all of which were individually marked. In addition, the co-defendant offered over 200 “good books,” plus a variety of other exhibits, as did we.
