15-YEAR LAWSUIT ENDS WITH $51 MILLION RECOVERY FOR KAJIMA INTERNATIONAL

TEXAS SUPREME COURT RULING CONCLUDES LONGEST RUNNING LAWSUIT IN SOUTH TEXAS

DALLAS, TEXAS—February 26, 2008—Steven Lownds, Shareholder of Dallas law firm, Quilling, Selander, Cummiskey & Lownds, P.C., announced that, what may be the longest running lawsuit in South Texas history, has reached its conclusion. Based on a decision of the Texas Supreme Court, Formosa Plastics Corporation has paid a judgment to Kajima International, Inc., totaling $51,541,612.39 including interest. The suit effectively reached its conclusion on January 25, 2008, when the Texas Supreme Court denied Formosa’s petition for review of the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals’ en banc decision affirming Kajima’s trial court judgment.

Originally filed in January 1993, the suit pitted Kajima International Inc., a subsidiary of Kajima Corp., one of the largest construction companies in the world, against Formosa Plastics USA, a subsidiary of Formosa Plastics Corp., a Taiwan-based, multinational plastics manufacturing corporation. The issue stemmed from damages that resulted from fraud committed by Formosa with regard to planned construction schedules and adequacy of engineering for the construction of petrochemical plants in Point Comfort, Calhoun County, Texas.

The case first went to trial in 1997, with the jury finding in favor of Kajima. However Kajima appealed the decision, contending that the jury was not allowed to consider all allegations of fraud and damages, and was granted a new trial.

The case was retried in 2002, with the jury again finding Formosa guilty of fraud. Kajima was awarded $29.6 million. However, on appeal in 2004, a divided panel on the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Formosa and ordered a new trial. This ultimately led to an en banc reconsideration in 2006 that affirmed the 2002 judgment for Kajima. Formosa then filed a petition for review with the Texas Supreme Court, the denial of which ended the lengthy battle.
Mr. Lownds, who was lead counsel for Kajima through the process, was very pleased with the outcome. “Kajima is relieved that this process is over, and that the principles of fairness and honesty, for which Kajima fought in this case, overcame the length of the proceedings. My co-counsel at trial, John Griffin and Andy Trusevich, and appellate counsel, Gilberto Hinojosa and Doug Alexander, were all key in securing and retaining this judgment. Edan Unterman, Kajima’s general counsel, was invaluable in supporting our combined efforts.”

Quilling, Selander, Cummiskey & Lownds, P.C.
2001 Bryan Street, Suite 1800
Dallas, TX 75201
Contact: Steven Lownds
214-880-1807
slownds@qsclpc.com

About Quilling, Selander, Cummiskey & Lownds, P.C.

Since its founding in 1993, Dallas, Texas based Quilling, Selander, Cummiskey & Lownds P.C. has built a highly successful practice providing litigation and bankruptcy services to a broad range of diverse clients, including some of the nation’s largest financial institutions, insurance companies and construction companies, as well as small to mid-size businesses, who have the common desire to be represented by aggressive attorneys who can cost-effectively deliver results.

The AV rated firm consists of more than 40 attorneys and 40 support staff with a strong belief in a philosophy that the client’s interests are best served by optimizing staffing for each case to keep costs manageable, while still obtaining the best possible result.

This release was published on openPR.