In 2015 a local businessman entered our office and inquired as to collecting on a corporate debt. His company had provided the stage and sound system for a Manatee County outdoor concert event and now the corporation that put-on the concert and its three officers/shareholders (one of whom is a local lawyer) were not paying. In other words, our client’s equipment was used to put on the concert and the concert promoters kept the revenue and didn’t pay for the stage and sound system! To make matters worse, our client had recently been turned away by Bradenton’s largest law firm and its litigation partner because “the debt is a corporate debt and cannot be collected on”. So, one of Mackey Law Group’s client’s (a well-known entertainer) told his friend to come see us for a second opinion.
Mackey Law Group reviewed the case and decided to take things on for the stage and sound client. We not only sued the corporation that owed the money, we also sued the principals/shareholders, individually, who were behind the corporation that owed our client money. So, what did the other side do? They went to Sarasota and got the senior litigator at a big-firm. The non-payers were apparently going to teach our client a lesson.
As expected, there were multiple motions to dismiss our client’s complaint and motions to continue hearings. On the eve of the jury trial, the big-firm lawyers even put the non-paying corporation into bankruptcy. That tactic alone stalled our client’s quest to get paid for over a year. But, Mackey Law Group would not give-in to these games. We hung in there for our client and amended the pleadings one more time to sue the lone-standing person behind the now-bankrupt corporation for using the corporation to commit a fraud on another…….yes, there is a way in Florida to get-around the corporate shield and collect from individual shareholders if they use the corporation to shield themselves in the commission of a fraud. Most lawyers do not know this; and obviously the Bradenton big firm litigators who rejected our client were not up on the law when they told our client he would never collect.
Mackey Law Group’s lawyers finally got the case set for jury trial. It took years of perseverance. Again, as trial approached, there were threats as to how we were going to lose and our client would have to pay the other side’s lawyer’s fees. However, our client now was educated by us on the law and he did not waiver. So what eventually happened? Our client won; he got paid. In fact, our client got paid via an agreement that was reached on the Friday before the Monday jury trial was to commence. Do you want proof? Take a look at the filed payment agreement in Manatee County Circuit Court Case Number 2015 CA 5907.
Don’t settle for a bad case analysis by a lawyer, no matter how “old and respected” the law firm is. Good trial lawyers are few and far between. Here at Mackey Law Group we are in the courtrooms of this state all the time. We know the law and we know how to win.
By: Peter Mackey, Esq.
