Business and Commercial Litigation

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Business Litigation Lawyers | Commercial Litigation

Business Litigation. Pittsburgh Strong.®    DTSALaw®

The attorneys at Houston Harbaugh, P.C., are accomplished litigators and trial lawyers, providing comprehensive commercial litigation support on a broad spectrum of matters throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and other jurisdictions upon a special admission basis. Our clients are regional and national small, medium and large companies and individuals who seek well planned and aggressive, but cost effective litigation in this region. We counsel, we budget, we have a deep bench, we act quickly when needed and we have experienced trial lawyers who know the courts and bench in this region. We serve regularly as local counsel for some of the largest law firms in the country when they have matters in this region.

We represent the needs of a changing and thriving Pittsburgh and tri-state region. We litigate and try cases in matters of business and commercial disputes, breach of contract, intellectual property, products liability, insurance coverage and bad faith, catastrophic personal injury and tort, construction, employment and restrictive covenants, trade secrets, DTSALaw®, and our litigation lawyers advocate for clients in real estate, environmental, health care, industrial, financial and business clients’ disputes. We see an increasing tie between business disputes and artificial intelligence (AI) issues and we counsel our clients in those matters.

We are a trusted litigation resource for clients, combining our knowledge and experience with the latest in technology, e-discovery, data management, trial presentation and litigation resources to provide strong representation. We listen, anticipate, research and counsel, developing sound business and litigation strategies. We have tried hundreds of cases to verdict and have extensive courtroom experience.

At Houston Harbaugh, P.C., we are advocates and advisers for our business clients on commercial litigation, intellectual property, insurance and regulatory enforcement issues. Our lawyers provide advice to clients seeking to avoid litigation and devise legal strategies when litigation becomes unavoidable. Our complex business litigation practice includes:

• Breach of Contract Dispute representation of business clients;
• Patent, Trademark, Copyright, Lanham Act and Licensing representation of corporations and individuals and complex litigation in court and the USPTO;
• Cybersecurity and Data Breach: Prevention, Mitigation and Litigation including insurance coverage evaluations;
• Employment and Restrictive Covenant litigation from cease and desist letter, to injunction hearing, to resolution or trial;
• Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith litigation for Insurers in state and federal courts;
• RICO defense representation of banking institutions, trucking companies, a telephone company and a securities firm in federal litigation brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO);
• UCC defense of banking institutions in check fraud cases under Articles 3 and 4 of the Uniform Commercial Code;
• UCC purchase and sales representation of buyers and sellers of goods in cases involving Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code;
• Security Interest representation of lenders and borrowers in actions brought to enforce security rights under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code;
• Unfair Trade Practices Claims on behalf of businesses;
• Trade Secret Misappropriation and theft claims;
• Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claims; Federal Criminal statute with civil remedy provisions;
• Probate, Estates and Trust Litigation in Orphans and probate courts in many jurisdictions;
• Environmental and Regulatory litigation for clean air, clean water, Superfund and governmental actions;
• Real Estate litigation involving fraudulent conveyance and other cases seeking to subordinate or set aside conveyances, mortgages and other security interests on the grounds of fraud, lack of authority or equitable considerations;
• Eminent Domain defense actions to deny wrongful governmental takings of property;
• Oil and Gas representation and litigation for landowners;
• DTSALaw® (Defend Trade Secrets Act Federal Claims) in federal court.
• Contact Our Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio Commercial Dispute Attorneys Today
• Our Pittsburgh based business litigation attorneys help clients navigate both complex and simple commercial disputes by providing them with the knowledge, information, strategy and budget needed to make informed decisions.

Houston Harbaugh, P.C., in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has substantial experience representing clients in business tort litigation. Contracts are an essential part of business, but contracts alone do not always define the rights and obligations between the parties to a business relationship. Under certain circumstances, so-called “business torts” and statutory causes of action may also create a basis for liability. Business torts may take various forms, but their primary purpose is generally to redress harms or injuries that are not covered by contract. Some examples of business torts include negligence, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, commercial disparagement, and defamation. Similarly, legislation, such as Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, the federal RICO statute, and the state and federal fraudulent conveyance statutes, also are commonly invoked in the context of business relationships.

Our attorneys have represented companies, as well as their directors, officers, and employees, in numerous cases involving business torts. These torts have arisen out of a wide range of business dealings and relationships that have included intellectual property transactions, real estate ventures, insurance agreements, and various other types of commercial dealings involving businesses.

Complex Contract Litigation: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Business Litigation Lawyers

The attorneys at Houston Harbaugh, P.C., in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have extensive experience representing local and national business clients in complex business contract litigation. Often, business disputes center around a contract. They are part and parcel of the operations of any business, no matter how large or how small. Many times these contracts are written, but other times they are not. Sometimes these contracts are extraordinarily detailed, while other times they might memorialize only the most basic terms of the parties’ agreement. In business, contracts may take many forms and involve a wide range of subjects. Accordingly, when a contract dispute arises or seems imminent, it is important for a party to understand its rights and obligations under the contract in dispute.

Our attorneys have experience advising, litigating, and trying contract cases that touch upon virtually every aspect of business. These contracts include services contracts, goods contracts under U.C.C. Article 2, secured collateral agreements under U.C.C. Article 9, employment contracts, non-competition agreements, license agreements, commercial leases, real estate purchase agreements, and franchise agreements, just to name a few.

Business Litigation. Pittsburgh Strong.® DTSALaw®

From our office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, our lawyers serve clients primarily in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and also in other jurisdictions on a special admission basis. Contact us to find out how we can help you protect your rights and interests in this region. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Business Litigation Lawyers | Attorneys | Trial Lawyers | Commercial Litigation. Call our law office at 412-281-5060.

Representative Business Litigation Work

The firm’s experience in commercial and corporate litigation includes the following cases:

• Representation of a large medical products manufacturer in patent infringement and validity litigation in Pittsburgh;
• Representation of a large metal alloy producer in defense of trademark and Lanham Act claims;
• Defense of a large major automobile manufacturer in unwanted acceleration litigation;
• Defense of a major insurer in large, complex coverage and bad faith claims involving hundreds of millions of dollars in long tail coverage for latent injury claims;
• The representation of the board of directors of a publicly held company in a shareholders’ derivative action seeking equitable and monetary relief arising out of allegations of mismanagement and waste of corporate assets;
• Defending the chairman of the board of directors of non-profit corporation in errors and omissions claims by trustee in bankruptcy, alleging financial mismanagement;
• Defending the manufacturer of a forklift alleged to have caused brain injury in a factory accident;
• Acting as class counsel in a nationwide securities fraud class action brought under RICO;
• The representation of the seller of a 50 percent interest in a privately held forest products company in a securities fraud claim against the purchaser and the purchaser’s law firm;
• The representation of a National Banking Association in a group of related actions brought by the owner of a restaurant chain to recover moneys misappropriated by its chairman through the use of checks written on the company’s checking accounts;
• The representation of a bank in a claim brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by a borrower seeking the recovery of losses of an investment in a North Carolina golf resort, the development of which was financed in part by the bank;
• Fraudulent conveyance litigation initiated by a real estate development company against prior officers, directors and shareholders and lending institution to set aside conveyance of apartment buildings and underlying mortgage;
• The defense of federal class action litigation on behalf of a trucking company alleged to have engaged in fraudulent billing practices;
• Representation of a telecommunications company in federal litigation brought under Federal Trademark Dilution Act and Digital Millennium Copyright Act by a designer and manufacturer of networked communications systems and related software;
• Representation of a Dutch corporation which owned the exclusive rights and license to the “total image” of one of the world’s foremost tennis superstars in action against defendant corporation for breach of endorsement contracts;
• Representation of multi-plant manufacturer in legal malpractice claim against its outside law firm arising out of pension plan termination;

Advising a franchise business regarding the need for specialty intellectual property insurance coverage and reviewing several competing proposed insurance policies.