Recent Accomplishments

CDQ attorneys have achieved successful outcomes for their clients in multiple matters in recent months:

On March 30, 2018, Dan Dowd, Betsy Lamm and Jenna Brownlee briefed and argued a statutory special action challenging zoning variances approved by the City of Phoenix Board of Adjustments to CDQ’s client.  After full briefing and argument, the Honorable Sherry K. Stephens ruled in favor of CDQ’s client on all issues, affirmed the Board of Adjustment’s decision and entered judgment and an award of costs in favor of CDQ’s clients.

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Dan Quigley, Betsy Lamm and Lauren LaPrade successfully obtained a full dismissal of a breach of contract action seeking over one million dollars in damages against CDQ’s client.  In July 2018, on CDQ’s motion for summary judgment, the Honorable Daniel Martin granted summary judgment against the plaintiff on all claims, enforcing a prior settlement agreement between the parties, which released the claims asserted by the plaintiff.  Judge Martin also entered an award of costs and attorneys’ fees in favor of CDQ’s client.

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In August 2018, Daniel Durchslag and Kevin Moyer prevailed on behalf of their client, a homeowner’s association, in litigation arising out of alleged misconduct and self-dealing by the association’s president.  After a bench trial, the Superior Court found in favor of the association on its claims that the president breached contractual and fiduciary duties owed to the association and made negligent misrepresentations in connection with a self-interested transaction.  The Court awarded our client substantial damages as well as attorney’s fees and costs.   The case is now pending before the Arizona Court of Appeals.

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On November 8, 2018, the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld a Superior Court judgment in favor of CDQ’s client for over $80 million (with attorneys’ fees and interest).  The judgment resulted from a 2-month trial in Maricopa County Superior Court in 2015. The Court of Appeals rejected the appellants’ contentions that 1) the Superior Court had erred in finding that the appellants aided and abetted a breach of fiduciary duty, and 2) that the Superior Court erred in its calculation of damages.  As the appellants did not file a petition for review by the Arizona Supreme Court, the decision by the Arizona Court of Appeals finally ends the litigation, which has been pending for over 15 years.   Dan Dowd, Dan Durchslag and Rebecca van Doren led the litigation for CDQ, with Mike Manning and Jeffrey Goulder from Stinson Leonard Street as co-counsel.   Read the memorandum decision here.

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In November 2018, the Superior Court entered final judgment in favor of CDQ’s client in a judicial review action.  After appellate briefing and argument by CDQ’s Dan Dowd and Rebecca van Doren, the Superior Court affirmed the administrative decision at issue, finding that the decision was supported by substantial evidence and was not arbitrary or capricious, an abuse of discretion or contrary to law.  The matter is now pending before the Arizona Court of Appeals.

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Dan Dowd and Gabe Aragon teamed with New York counsel to defend their mutual client against claims for breach of contract, fraud and related charges brought by a former executive of the company.  In Fall 2018, the case was tried to a jury  At trial, the plaintiff asserted damages totaling approximately $6 million plus fees.  The Court threw out the fraud claims and the jury awarded the plaintiff a small fraction of the total amounts claimed.  The Court also issued post-trial sanctions, including a finding of civil contempt, against a third-party witness aligned with the plaintiff for intentional obstruction of the discovery process and imposed severe monetary sanctions.

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In January 2019, after a 4-week jury trial, the Arizona Superior Court entered judgment of over $3.6 million in favor of CDQ’s clients, managers at a mortgage lending branch.   The CDQ team, led by Dan Quigley, Cindy Albracht-Crogan, Rebecca van Doren and Kevin Moyer, defeated claims brought against their clients by their former bank employer, prevailing on counterclaims seeking payment of unpaid compensation, including treble damages based on the jury’s finding that the bank had acted in bad faith.   The Superior Court also awarded CDQ’s clients substantial attorneys’ fees and costs.

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Ron Cohen, Dan Dowd, Betsy Lamm, Neil Stuart and Kaysey Fung successfully represented a global retailer in a breach of contract and fraud dispute against a major network.  After multiple mediations and a contested hearing, CDQ’s client obtained a substantial settlement to conclude the dispute.