News Category: News

Roger Siefert provided testimony in an art forgery trial in Manhattan Federal District Court, which has since been followed by a settlement by one of the defendants in the case.

Knoedler & Company, a 165-year old art gallery, which was once New York’s oldest, and its former president, Ann Freedman, have been accused of selling more than 30 pieces of forged artworks supplied by a Long Island art dealer. Roger testified on behalf of Domenico and Elenore De Sole, who purchased what they believed to be an authentic Mark Rothko painting from Knoedler for $8.3 million in 2004. The De Soles sued the gallery and Freedman when they discovered the painting was a fake.

StoneTurn’s team – Roger and Michel Hagenaar – analyzed Knoedler’s financial records and determined that, if not for the sale of forged artworks, Knoedler would have been an unprofitable enterprise during most of the years it sold the counterfeits. At trial, Roger also provided testimony with respect to Freedman’s multi-million dollar personal gains from sales of the paintings in question, highlighting consistent increases in her profit-sharing arrangement with the gallery over almost two decades. It was reported on Feb. 7 that Freedman reached a settlement with the De Soles; terms have not been disclosed.

Read The New York Times’ report on the high-profile lawsuit, including Roger’s testimony.

Read the follow-up story on the settlement.

StoneTurn’s client Boston University was recently awarded $13.7 million in patent royalties by a jury in Boston, Massachusetts, after three years of litigation and nearly three weeks of trial related to infringement of a Blue LED light microchip patent infringed by three Taiwanese LED light chip and package manufacturers: Epistar, Everlight and Lite-On.

Alan Ratliff testified on the matter. The core team working with lead counsel, Shore Chan DePumpo, and Boston University was led by Adam Gordon, Tiffany Lewis and Melissa Haley, with assistance from Kris Buchan, Robert Wright and Linda Calles. Other professionals in StoneTurn’s office provided additional support on the matter.

Alan Ratliff was recognized as an Outstanding Community Volunteer at the National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon at the Hilton-Americas in Houston on November 19, 2015, in connection with his volunteerism for the Chinquapin Preparatory School in East Houston.

The verdict is in and Google, StoneTurn’s client, was found not liable for infringement in its second trial in as many years against SimpleAir. In a previous trial, involving different experts, SimpleAir was awarded $85 million for Google’s infringement of patents related to push notifications on mobile devices. The second trial involved the same type of alleged infringement, but different patents, other outside counsel for Google (Quinn Emanuel) and StoneTurn professionals working on the damages issues.

Alan Ratliff filed expert reports and gave depositions in the matter. The core team included Tiffany Lewis, Kris Buchan, Katie Prichard and David Shannon, with additional assistance from various team members in StoneTurn’s Houston office.

Alan Ratliff moderated a panel of judges and practicing attorneys engaged in a discussion on patent damages at the 2015 Eastern District of Texas Bench Bar Conference in Plano, Texas.

Judge Bryson of the Federal Circuit, Chief Judge Clark of the Eastern District of Texas, Judge Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas, Magistrate Judge Love of the Eastern District of Texas, Steve Williams of McDole & Williams in Dallas, and co-moderator Bo Davis of Longview, Texas, participated on the panel. Alan and Bo provided a recap of 2015 Federal Circuit opinions with significant damages issues. The panel focused on the role of surveys and technical experts in determining apportionment with respect to reasonable royalty damages, and the requirements for lost profits damages. The session concluded with questions from the audience.

To learn more, download the conference program and panel slides

Alan Ratliff, a Partner in StoneTurn’s Houston office, who was recently appointed by the Houston Mayor to the Houston BARC Foundation (HBF), has been elected as its Chair and President.

HBF is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the City of Houston’s animal regulation and care efforts, including raising funds from the private sector to provide much needed medical and kennel supplies, equipment and better living conditions to the animals at the local shelter, which is the largest in the U.S.

Additionally, Katie Prichard, a Manager in StoneTurn’s Houston office, has been appointed as Administrative Coordinator of the HBF.

After three years of litigation and a two-week trial, an Arizona federal jury found last week that Taiwan Union Technology Corp. infringed two patents owned by Isola USA Corp. for resins used to make circuit boards. The jury also found that the infringement of one of the patents was willful and rejected Taiwan Union’s arguments that both patents are invalid. Isola USA was awarded $11.5 million in damages.

A Houston-based StoneTurn team worked with DLA Piper out of San Diego and Phoenix for Isola USA, the leading manufacturer of high performance laminate product materials used to fabricate circuit boards assembled into high-end computers, servers, switches, routers and other similar products. Alan Ratliff, StoneTurn Partner, provided testimony at trial.

Adam Gordon and David Shannon rounded out the StoneTurn team of experts, along with Kris Buchan and Linda Calles.

Read more from Law360.com.

(Note: A subscription to Law360.com is required to access the article).

JANUARY 2015 – StoneTurn Group (“StoneTurn”) is proud to announce the admission of Neil Ashton and Brad Wilson to the partnership.

Simon Platt, Managing Partner of StoneTurn, said, “We have always measured our success in terms of developing each other’s skills and talents, which benefits both our clients and our firm. We are thrilled to welcome Neil and Brad to the partnership as the next step in their careers and in the growth of our firm. They will continue to serve our clients with distinction, especially in the areas of commercial litigation and cross-border disputes.”

ABOUT NEIL ASHTON
Neil, who is based in StoneTurn’s London office, acts in complex domestic and international litigation, arbitration and mediation. He has worked as an expert witness, adviser or expert determiner for clients in a wide range of industry sectors. He has particular experience in the evaluation and quantification of damages due to breach of contract or business interruption. More particularly, he is commonly involved in post-acquisition matters and the valuation of businesses in a dispute context. Learn more about Neil.

ABOUT BRAD WILSON
Brad, a Certified Public Accountant, who is based in the firm’s Boston office, has worked with clients on a wide range of complex litigation matters, including breach of contract, post-acquisition disputes, regulatory issues, allegations of unfair business practices and partnership disputes. Brad has testified as an expert witness in state and federal courts, at depositions and in arbitrations. Additionally, he has experience leading corporate investigations involving potential violations of the False Claims Act, improper accounting for government contracts, employee and executive fraud and embezzlement, and improper application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Learn more about Brad.

ABOUT STONETURN
StoneTurn Group (“StoneTurn”) is an independent consulting firm that works with attorneys, corporations, government officials and individuals on a range of complex matters. StoneTurn was founded in 2004, on the premise of delivering responsive, high-quality service with “hands-on” partner involvement, to offer practical solutions to our clients’ challenges. Our team includes former Big Four partners, attorneys and industry alumni. With professionals located in eight offices across the U.S. and U.K., we provide expertise in: Complex Business Litigation, Forensic Accounting, Forensic Technology, Intellectual Property and Remediation & Monitoring.

To learn more, visit www.stoneturn-dev.bigdropinc.net

Christopher Martinez, a co-founding partner of StoneTurn Group, has always strived to do things differently. Whether serving clients in complex intellectual property matters or helping to build an atypical consulting firm, Martinez’s focus has remained steadfastly on expertise.

StoneTurn’s carefully built atmosphere – created on a belief that it’s about more than just the bottom line – has allowed partners and colleagues to flourish and become industry-leading practitioners.

“We as a firm, and me as a person actually have a deep understanding of our subjects and have learned the trade of being a good witness,” says Martinez, who was recently included among the top patent damages experts on IAM’s Patent 1000 list.

Read more about Chris and StoneTurn in “An inventive approach to intellectual property” from Hispanic Executivemagazine.

NOVEMBER 10, 2014 – StoneTurn Group (“StoneTurn”) is pleased to announce that Michele Edwards has joined the firm as a Managing Director in Chicago.

Michele brings more than 18 years of experience in fraud and compliance risk management and financial statement auditing. She specializes in assessing and implementing antifraud and compliance programs, fraud risk assessments, fraud and compliance training, fraud detection and forensic investigations. Michele has worked with clients across various industries, including investment banking, retail, grocery, manufacturing, consumer goods, telecommunications, hospitality, chemicals, consulting and construction.

Simon Platt, Managing Partner of StoneTurn, said, “Michele is a welcome addition to our firm. Her combined risk management, compliance and forensics skills will allow us to serve clients more effectively as regulatory scrutiny continues to increase, as well as to help to protect them from future incidents of fraud and misconduct.”

Michele joins StoneTurn’s growing Remediation & Monitoring practice, which is dedicated to assisting attorneys, corporations and regulatory agencies with both pre-incident compliance programs and post-incident corrective measures.

To learn more about Michele.

CONTACT:
Michele Edwards
+1 312 775 1221
medwards@stoneturn.com

ABOUT STONETURN
toneTurn Group (“StoneTurn”) is an independent consulting firm that works with attorneys, corporations, government officials and individuals on a range of complex matters.

StoneTurn was founded in 2004, on the premise of delivering responsive, high-quality service with  “hands-on” partner involvement, to offer practical solutions to our clients’ challenges. Our team includes former Big Four partners, attorneys and industry alumni.

With professionals located in eight offices across the U.S. and U.K., we provide expertise in: Complex Business Litigation, Forensic Accounting, Forensic Technology, Intellectual Property and Remediation & Monitoring.

To learn more, visit www.stoneturn-dev.bigdropinc.net