(DALLAS) – Hemingway & Hansen, LLP, a Dallas-based intellectual property law firm, and several firm clients have been awarded costs by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas resulting from their successful defense against a lawsuit initially filed by Malcolm W. Pipes. With the dismissal and award of costs on Nov. 19, 2014, all costs from the appeal are to be paid by Mr. Pipes to Hemingway & Hansen, Greg Bender, SJS Holdings, LLC, FOI Group, LLC, Red River Fiber Optic Corporation and Carl L. Goodzeit.
“We are pleased to finally put an end to this frivolous filing by Mr. Pipes, who presented absolutely no evidence to support his claims in this matter,” said D. Scott Hemingway, partner at Hemingway & Hansen. “Unfortunately, I believe Mr. Pipes, who served as an associate attorney for the firm, conjured up these allegations solely to damage the firm and its relationship with these clients.”
By orders in late 2012 and early 2013, the 191th District Count of Dallas dismissed all claims filed by Pipes. On appeal, the Fifth District Court of Appeals ruled that Pipes had no remaining claims that could be asserted against the parties in April 2014. And, later, the Texas Supreme Court affirmed that dismissal on Oct. 3, 2014.
“Mr. Pipes never had a case against the firm or our clients, and that has been proven over and over again. In my opinion, he filed the case solely to sully the fine reputation of the firm clients with outlandish claims that they somehow stole money from him by paying their bills to the firm. The Court’s repeated rulings on this matter confirm that Mr. Pipes’ case was a ridiculous attempt to extract additional undeserved money from the firm by dragging firm clients into a frivolous lawsuit,” added Hemingway.
“I think there are two major ‘takeaways’ from this case. First, Mr. Pipes has no apprehension about suing clients he once represented and to which he owed a duty of loyalty. And, second, Mr. Pipes did an astonishing job of convincing another attorney to pursue his worthless case on his behalf.” Mr. Pipes was represented by Mr. Kevin Wiley, Jr., a Dallas attorney.
Hemingway & Hansen, LLP is committed to relentlessly pursuing clients’ needs, regardless of the client’s circumstances or size. The firm continues to obtain outstanding results for its clients’ patent assets and licensing work. For more information regarding Hemingway & Hansen’s portfolio of critical intellectual property patent licensing work, visit www.hh-iplaw.com.
About Hemingway & Hansen, LLP.
Hemingway & Hansen, LLP was founded in January of 2000 in Dallas, Texas by D. Scott Hemingway and Eugenia S. Hansen, IP law partners, each with over 20 years of experience in both boutique and international law firms. The firm has remained small by design, handling litigation, prosecution, and licensing and focusing solely on intellectual property and closely related business disputes.