Category Archives: Lawsuits

Monitronics asks Georgia Supreme Court to Review $8.4 million judgment.

file000453200083I have been in denial, but, given that it is October, and the weekend weather forecast for my hometown of Minneapolis is quite chilly, it seems I need to face reality: summer is over. So, then, is my summer vacation from blogging.

I will re-start blogging with the big-money case coming out of Georgia against Monitronics.   The latest in this legal battle over millions of dollars is Monitronics’ attempt to get the Georgia Supreme Court to review the court of appeals’ opinion, which took Monitronics to task, invalidated its contract, and upheld an $8.4 million verdict against Monitronics.

The case epitomizes the saying bad facts make bad law.  In case you missed hearing about it, here are the facts and more about the court of appeals’ opinion and Monitronics’ attempt at Georgia Supreme Court review. Continue reading →

Alarm.com sues Telular

Alarm.com filed suit against Telular this week in federal court in Delaware.  Alarm.com alleges that Telular infringed on four of Alarm.com’s patents with Telular’s Telguard HomeControl, which allows alarm system users to remotely access and control their security system, turn on and off lights, lock and unlock doors, and adjust the thermostat.

Julie Jacobson at CE Pro wrote a great blog post about the suit, with some thoughts on why Alarm.com singled out Telular when everyone else is doing it too.  http://www.cepro.com/article/alarm.com_sues_telguard_telular_over_cloud-based_security_home_automation/

Read the complaint here:    Alarm.com v. Telular.

Eli Lilly/National Union dismiss Connecticut suit against ADT/Tyco

Eli Lilly and its insurer, National Union, have pulled the plug on the lawsuit against ADT and Tyco, filed recently in federal court in Connecticut stemming from a $60 million pharmaceutical heist.  Did they dismiss the lawsuit because they settled out of court?  Nope.

Instead, Eli Lilly and National Union allegedly went looking for a more favorable jurisdiction  to get around a problem with Connecticut’s statute of limitations (the time within which the law says you must file a lawsuit).  They brought a new lawsuit in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, the location of ADT/Tyco’s corporate headquarters.  They also added some new allegations (fraud, misrepresentation, interference with contract) and added two individual defendants–Amed and Amaury Villa, the alleged perpetrators of the heist.  TycoIS (ADT’s new name) has, again, moved to dismiss the lawsuit.  Stay tuned.

Read the new complaint and TycoIS’s motion to dismiss: National Union v Tyco- SD Fla and National Union v Tyco- Mot to dismiss.

Alarm company whose bookkeeper embezzled $600,000 must still pay its security equipment supplier.

New Canaan Alarm Company, whose bookkeeper embezzled over $600,000 from the company, must still pay over $100,000 to its fire and security alarm equipment supplier, Alarmmax Distributors, Inc., even though Alarmmax brought its claims more than four years after the last purchase.  The case hinges on interpretation of the Uniform Commercial Code and statute of limitations arguments.  It’s a bit dry, but you can read it here:  Alarmmax v. New Canaan Alarm.

It’s not the law that’s worth talking about here, though.  The big takeway for your business is the need for some accounting controls–which were apparently lacking for both sides in this case.

If you’re a distributor, you must have tighter reins on your extensions of credit and receivables.  When you let a company “run up a balance” as Alarmmax did here, you leave yourself exposed.

If you’re an alarm company (or any business, really), you must have internal controls so that no one person has access to the financial accounts with no oversight (e.g., whoever deposits the checks should not also be the person who reviews the bank statements, etc., etc.).

New lawsuit alleges ADT security plans shared with burglars in $60 million pharmaceutical heist.

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file000482128022A new lawsuit filed against ADT and Tyco alleges that less than one month after ADT prepared a detailed security assessment at an Eli Lilly warehouse in February 2010, $60 million worth of pharmaceuticals were stolen from the warehouse  by burglars with inside knowledge of the security assessment.   The lawsuit’s facts read like a movie script.   Continue reading →

How to investigate a customer’s loss (Part 1).

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file0001517618093“YOU HAVE BEEN SUED” reads the piece of paper some otherwise friendly-looking process-server has just handed you.  Or perhaps you received a letter from an insurance company claiming you have caused damages and demanding payment in lieu of the lawsuit it intends to file against you.  Or maybe one of your clients just called to complain that his house burned down two days ago and the alarm system did not work.  What should you do?  Hint: as tempting as it may be, the answer is not to go about your business as if nothing happened. Continue reading →