Commercial Litigation

Commercial litigation: def. The process of resolving a dispute related to business or commercial rights or obligations through action in a court of law.

Our goal is to protect and defend your business interests. In today’s fast-paced, global commercial environment, disputes between businesses are all but inevitable. Litigation can be costly, but the failure to adequately protect legal interests can be devastating to a company. The right legal representation is an investment, not merely an expense; even so, businesses must navigate the tension between securing the most effective advocacy possible and managing litigation costs. Shullman Fugate offers business clients the best of both worlds, utilizing advanced technology to keep client costs low while offering the benefit of its extensive experience in the most complex business disputes. Practice Areas: Commercial Litigation

CLIENT-CENTERED ADVOCACY

The firm has found that one key to efficient resolution of business-to-business disputes is accurate analysis of a case in light of the client’s particular needs. The attorneys of Shullman Fugate begin by working with each client to identify and clarify the client’s goals for the litigation process, then evaluate the strengths and challenges of that position and craft a targeted approach to the desired outcome.

Shullman Fugate recognizes that each client is unique in its needs and ability to tolerate risk. Our goal is to give business clients answers to the questions they didn’t know they needed to ask, so that they can make informed decisions. We believe that when our clients are empowered and armed with information, our attorneys are better able to advocate effectively for the outcomes clients need.

LITIGATION PRACTICES

Although we concentrate our practice on defending content-related claims and litigating intellectual property disputes, Shullman Fugate features attorneys with decades of commercial litigation experience that includes years of practice in Florida’s largest law firm, a global litigation firm with offices in dozens of countries, and other “big law” experience.

Our attorneys have a vast litigation practice and handle a variety of business disputes, including breach of contract; tortious interference with business relationships or contracts; violation of noncompetition and non-disclosure agreements; fraudulent misrepresentation; deceptive and unfair trade practices, i.e., FDUTPA claims; and more. Shullman Fugate also defends against various types of individual and class action lawsuits for violation of consumer protection laws, including the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA) and its federal counterpart the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

CONTENT

Shullman Fugate focuses on defending content-related claims across a variety of platforms. We have defended hundreds of defamation, invasion of privacy, and right of publicity cases on behalf of newspapers, television stations, filmmakers, internet streaming services, social media platforms, websites, corporations, non-profits, and individual speakers. We also defend Section 230 claims for all types of internet publishers and protect our clients’ ability to post third-party content online.

In court, we rely upon our extensive experience and deep substantive knowledge to identify and assert a wide range of First Amendment, common law, and statutory defenses to protect your content. We frequently file and often prevail on dispositive motions early in content-related cases, saving you time and money while permitting you to stay focused on your content and business priorities. For many years, our lawyers have been at the forefront of establishing precedent to minimize the impact of these types of lawsuits.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Shullman Fugate both prosecutes and defends copyright and trademark infringement lawsuits and related claims, such as trade secret and domain name disputes. Some of our experience includes defending and prosecuting claims under the Copyright and Lanham Acts and Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and those involving counterfeit goods, music rights, unfair competition, and false advertising. We represent both plaintiffs and defendants, whether from unauthorized encroachment on their rights, or from unwarranted claims that their use of others’ work or mark is impermissible. Our attorneys resolve claims in the courtroom, the USPTO Trademark Trial & Appeal Board, Copyright Claims Board, and in pre-litigation discussions.

We employ a strategic and practical approach that aligns with the goals of each client. Our team navigates through a variety of litigation-related procedures, whether the dispute calls for emergency action related to a temporary restraining order, a robust litigation strategy or an out-of-court settlement. Our litigators have experience with the prosecution, application and licensing of intellectual property, which is essential to understanding the process behind many infringement claims.