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 Shareholder
2323 Bryan Street Suite 2200 Dallas, Texas 75201 phone: (214) 969-4904 facsimile: (214) 969-4999
Email: vogelson@sbep-law.com
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Areas of Practice
- Alternative Dispute Resolution as mediator, arbitrator
or counsel (available for complex tort, business, financial, real estate
development, commercial, securities, antitrust, intellectual property and
class action cases)
- Business litigation (domestic and international)
- Antitrust, Intellectual Property litigation and
licensing
- Class Action litigation
Practice Description
Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice: Attorney
Mediator (more than 10 years experience). Arbitrator - American Arbitration
Association: Arbitrator on Commercial, Complex Case, and International Panels
(more than 20 years experience). Arbitrator, International Institute for
Conflict Prevention & Resolution. Service both as neutral and as party-appointed
arbitrator. International arbitration under UNCITRAL and other rules. Former
U.S. member, London Court of International Arbitration.
Advice companies on dispute avoidance and resolution practices.
Served as sole and panel arbitrator, for example, in cases
concerning international aircraft development, offshore tax and investment
transactions, international insurance disputes, commercial construction,
international manufacturing and supply of goods; internet advertising, mobile
homes, medical reimbursement planes, and real estate transactions.
Litigation Practice: Litigation counsel for domestic and foreign
companies and individuals, as plaintiffs or defendants, in class action cases,
general business, corporate and financial transaction litigation and federal
litigation with emphasis on contract disputes, securities, intellectual
property, antitrust, bankruptcy adversary cases, and cases involving parties
from different countries and different legal systems. Practice also includes
representation of technology companies in international business transactions
including licensing and distribution. On behalf of clients, mediation and
arbitration before national and international fora,
and counseling on dispute avoidance practices.
Recent Representative Matters
- Represented the premier cutting horse trainer/competitor
in litigation concerning control of syndicate that owned the leading cutting
horse sire of all time, including control of clones and frozen semen.
Litigation extensively covered by Quarter Horse News, the principal industry
publication.
- Represented several hundred products liability
plaintiffs in arbitration regarding scope of a settlement agreement and
payment terms. Arbitration panel found all plaintiffs covered by the agreement
and ordered payment.
- Represented a U.S. entertainment equipment company as
defendant in a “bet the company” patent infringement, Lanham Act (false
endorsement and false advertising) and attempt to monopolize antitrust suit
brought by European competitors and their U.S. subsidiary. Plaintiffs’ press
release claimed $100 million in damages and royalties. Following trial, a
United States District Court ruled in January 2002 against the Plaintiffs on
all counts, finding that the Plaintiffs’ claims were not valid, and sustaining
all of the defenses we alleged. Plaintiffs appealed only the patent
infringement claim dismissal. The U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit,
reversed and remanded based on claim construction. Following retrial, the U.S.
District Court in March, 2004, declared the patent to be invalid and
unenforceable, granting judgment for our clients. See PMI
Photomagic, Ltd. v. Foto Fantasy, Inc., et
al, 2004 U.S. Dist., LEXIS 5306 (N.D. Tex. 2004).
- Represented a telecommunications company as defendant in
several class action cases concerning telephone services provided to inmates
in state correctional facilities. Cases filed in Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio,
Oklahoma, District of Columbia and New Mexico involve First Amendment, due
process, antitrust, telecommunications and various state law claims. Our
defenses have been successful in all decided cases on motions to dismiss the
complaints. See, e.g., Arsberry et al v. State of
Illinois, et al, 244 F.3d 558 (7th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 151 L.Ed.2d 576
(2001). The New Mexico Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of state law unfair
competition and antitrust claims in a case of first impression. Valdez, et al
v. State of New Mexico, et al, No. 26,830 (N.M. August 12, 2002).
- Represented an equipment leasing and financing company
as defendant in litigation with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The
FDIC sought to recover $250 million (actual and punitive damages) in
connection with sale and lease-back transactions with
MBank Dallas before it became insolvent. Claims concerned federal law
regarding insolvent national banks. Our defense resulted in dismissal of the
FDIC claims on a motion for summary judgment and
affirmance of our client's counterclaim, resulting in a recovery for
our client of approximately $10 million. In a subsequent related case, Bank
One sued our client for approximately $4 million, claiming breach of a
contract of sale of equipment leased to MBank. The
Bank One claim was defeated on motion for summary judgment and affirmed on
appeal. For principal decisions, see Bank One Texas, NA v. The Prudential
Insurance Co. of America, Texas Commerce Bank, Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation and Capital Associates International, Inc., 878 F. Supp. 943 (N.D.
Tex. 1995); Bank One Texas, NA v. Capital Associates International, Inc., 2000
US Dist. Lexis 7146 (N.D. Tex. 2000), 2000 US Dist. Lexis 11652 (N.D. Tex.
2000), aff’d, 254 F.3d 71 (5th Cir. 2001). We were
selected by a national law firm to be lead trial counsel.
- Represented the Government of Mexico as amicus curiae on
appeal in a case where recognition of a Mexican court judgment was refused by
a United States District Court on grounds that the effective debt interest
rate and judgment interest rate violated Texas public policy on interest rate
ceilings. The decision was reversed on appeal, sustaining the views urged by
the Government of Mexico. Southwest Livestock v.
Reginaldo Ram169 F.3d 317 (5th Cir. 1999).
- Represented a university in a class action case brought
against colleges and universities alleging price fixing and other antitrust
violations concerning interest rates on charitable gift annuities. Damages
sought exceeded $1 billion. Case was dismissed after Congress passed
legislation providing a specific exemption from the antitrust laws. We were
selected by an international law firm as counsel and to serve on the defense
steering committee.
- Represented a British military contractor as defendant
in a breach of contract and environmental contamination case as a consequence
of its sale of a U.S. subsidiary. Contract contained representations
concerning the environmental condition of the U.S. facilities. We were able to
secure a summary judgment dismissal in Texas state court. We were selected by
an international law firm for this engagement.
- Represented a Spanish manufacturer of state-of-the-art
brick manufacturing equipment in a breach of contract suit in which the
equipment purchaser claimed that the equipment did not perform according to
specifications. The plaintiff sought to recover in excess of $12 million. We
were able to show sufficient lack of fault and sustain international law
defenses that resulted in a settlement where an insurance carrier paid less
than $1 million in settlement and our client was released without payment of
any sum.
- Represented a Japanese engineering and manufacturing
company as plaintiff in arbitration in Japan and in litigation in the United
States against an engineering design firm concerning an explosion of the
largest gas flare system in the North Slope of Alaska. We were successful in
reaching a multi-million dollar settlement recovery. We were retained by a
Japanese law firm for this engagement.
- Represented a Swiss manufacturer of milling equipment as
defendant in a patent infringement and Walker Process monopolization antitrust
case brought by its principal Italian competitor. Case was tried to the court
without a jury. We were responsible for trial of the antitrust claim, which
was dismissed by the court's judgment. We were engaged by an international
intellectual property law firm.
- Represented former owners of a manufacturer of truck
trailers who sold their company to a Swiss company on a leveraged buy-out and
were not paid the installment purchase price after the acquiring company
changed direction, resulting in bankruptcy. We obtained a jury verdict against
the controlling Swiss investor on alter ego theories, which resulted in a
multi-million dollar settlement.
Activities and Affiliations
- Member (Elected), American Law Institute
- Member, Council on Foreign Relations
- Member, Industrial Advisory Board, University of Texas
at Dallas, Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and
Computer Science.
- Member, United States Secretary of State’s Advisory
Committee on International Law
- Co-Founder, Arab Legal Institute (along with Arab
Lawyers Union, Paris Bar, International Bar Association and American Bar
Association)
- Advisory Board Member, Central European and Eurasian Law
Initiative
- American Bar Association’s Alternate Representative to
United Nations
- Co-Chair, Blue Ribbon Working Group on International
Terrorism, American Bar Association's Section of International Law and
Practice
- American Bar Association’s Representative to Union
Internationale des Avocats
- Chair (Dallas), Export Legal Assistance Network
- Former Chair, ABA Section of International Law and
Practice
- Former Chair, ABA Standing Committee on World Order
Under Law
- Former Chair, State Bar of Texas, Proposed Federal
Legislation Committee
- Former Chair, State Bar of Texas, International Law
Section
- Former Chair, Dallas Bar Association, Antitrust and
Trade Regulation Section
- Vice Chairman, Texas Commission on the Arts (1994-1999)
(appointed by Governor Ann Richards, confirmation approved by Governor George
W. Bush)
- Member, Texas Committee on the Humanities (1992-1994)
- Co-author: Complying with International Antitrust
Regulations (Matthew Bender, 1994)
- Member, American Bar Association; International Bar
Association; Union Internationale des
Avocats; State Bar of Texas; Dallas Bar
Association; Association of Attorney-Mediators
Education and Experience
- Lehigh University (B.S., 1960)
- New York University School of Law (LL.B., 1963)
- Honor Law Graduate Program, United States Department of
Justice (1963-1966)
- Attorney, President’s Commission on the Assassination of
President John F. Kennedy (1964) ("The Warren Commission")
- Admitted to practice before: The Supreme Court of the
United States; United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, Tenth,
Eleventh and Federal Circuits; United States Court of International Trade;
United States Tax Court; United States District Courts for the Northern,
Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas; United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan; and United States District Court for the
District of Columbia
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