Gabbard v. Madison Local School District Board of Education (pending at the Supreme Court of Ohio) – Matt represents the Madison (Ohio) Local School District in this case that involves the power of school districts to authorize individuals to carry firearms on school property.  The case turns on issues of statutory construction.

Louisville Gas & Electric Co. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ___ F.3d ___ (6th Cir. 2021) – Matt and his colleague Jason Renzelmann represented Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities in this petition for review from an order of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC’s order required LG&E/KU to pay transmission charges incurred by a municipal utility for delivery of electricity over the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO), a regional electricity transmission grid.  The Sixth Circuit granted the petition, finding that FERC’s order was arbitrary and capricious.

Reister v. Gardner, ___ Ohio St.3d __, 2020-Ohio-5484, __ N.E.3d ___ (Ohio 2020) – This case involved whether Ohio’s litigation privilege barred breach-of-fiduciary duty claims against directors of a nonprofit trade association whose decision to reject a proposed, no-cost settlement led directly to a $43 million judgment against the association.  Matt represented the judgment creditor, one of two parties seeking reversal of lower court rulings that held the litigation privilege barred the claims.  The Supreme Court of Ohio unanimously held that the litigation privilege did not bar the claims and reversed the unfavorable court of appeals ruling to the contrary.

City of Athens v. McClain, Tax Commissioner, __ Ohio St.3d __, 2020-Ohio-5146, __ N.E.3d __ (Ohio 2020) – Matt represented a coalition of more than 150 Ohio municipalities in a constitutional challenge to portions of two tax statutes passed by the Ohio General Assembly. The legislation at issue centralized collection of municipal corporate taxes at the state level and allowed the state to retain a portion of the collected taxes to cover the cost of the centralized administration scheme. The Supreme Court of Ohio upheld the centralized collection but struck down the state’s attempt to withhold any of the collected municipal taxes.

NASCAR Holdings, Inc. v. Testa, 152 Ohio St.3d 405, 2017-Ohio-9118, 97 N.E.3d 414 (Ohio 2017) – Matt represented NASCAR in this appeal involving appellate jurisdiction. The Board of Tax Appeals had dismissed NASCAR’s appeal on jurisdictional grounds. The Supreme Court reversed and reinstated the appeal in a 6-1 decision.

State ex rel. Doner v. Zehringer, 139 Ohio St.3d 314, 2014-Ohio-2102, 11 N.E.3d 1152 (Ohio 2014) – Matt represented the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and its Director in this contempt proceeding involving underlying eminent domain actions that the Supreme Court of Ohio had previously ordered the Department to file.  Before Frost Brown Todd’s representation began, the Supreme Court of Ohio had held the Department and its Director in contempt for delays in initiating the eminent domain actions.  Subsequently, after Frost Brown Todd began representing the Department and its Director, the property owners filed a second contempt motion based on events in the underlying actions.  The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the property owners’ second contempt motion.

Huffman v. Hilltop Companies, LLC, 747 F.3d 391 (6th Cir. 2014) – Matt represented Hilltop Companies in the successful appeal of a federal district court’s refusal to compel arbitration of cases brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The district court had denied a motion to compel arbitration despite the existence of arbitration clauses in the plaintiffs’ independent contractor agreements with Hilltop, because those agreements contained survival clauses that did not include the arbitration provision as a term that survived the expiration of the agreements.  In a case of first impression at the federal appellate level, the Sixth Circuit reversed and compelled arbitration.  The court of appeals held that the absence of the arbitration clause from the list of surviving provisions was insufficient to overcome the presumption that an agreement to arbitrate disputes survives the expiration of a contract.

Lipker v. AK Steel Corporation, 698 F.3d 923 (6th Cir. 2012) – The plaintiff filed this ERISA benefits action against AK Steel for alleged miscalculation of surviving spouse benefits under the company’s pension plan. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff. We secured a reversal in the Court of Appeals, which held that the company had correctly interpreted its plan and correctly calculated benefits. The decision effectively cut off a potential flood of other lawsuits and liabilities, including a simultaneously pending class action.

Welsh Development Company v. Warren County Regional Planning Commission, 128 Ohio St.3d 471, 2011-Ohio-1604, 946 N.E.2d 215 (Ohio 2011) – The court of appeals had held that Welsh Development failed to perfect its administrative appeal based on its interpretation of the statutes governing appeals in Ohio state courts.  The Ohio Supreme Court accepted our discretionary appeal to establish clear standards for Ohio administrative appeals.  In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court held that Welsh Development’s appeal had been properly filed, and it articulated clear standards for filing such appeals.

Alliance Health Group LLC v. Bridging Health Options, LLC, 553 F.3d 397 (5th Cir. 2008) – This case of first impression in the Fifth Circuit involved an issue of interpretation of forum selection clauses on which three other circuits had split. The Fifth Circuit accepted our client’s position that a clause requiring litigation “in” a particular county permitted litigation in federal court, and not just the state court for that county, so long as the federal courthouse was physically located in the county in question.

Ignazio v. Clear Channel Communications, 113 Ohio St.3d 276, 865 N.E.2d 18 (Ohio 2007) – The court of appeals had held that Clear Channel’s employment arbitration agreement was unenforceable because of an objectionable provision. The Ohio Supreme Court accepted our discretionary appeal in order to set standards for severability of contract provisions. The Supreme Court held 6-1 in our client’s favor that the unlawful provision of the arbitration agreement was severable and the remainder of the agreement enforceable.

Scovill v. WSYX/ABC, 425 F.3d 1012 (6^th Cir. 2005) – In this employment discrimination lawsuit, the Sixth Circuit accepted our client’s arguments and reversed the district court’s severance of certain aspects of an arbitration agreement while affirming the district court’s findings that the dispute was arbitrable and the arbitration clause lawful.

Commonwealth of Kentucky v. Marathon Petroleum Company LP (W.D. Ky.) – Matt represented a petroleum refiner in the defense of a parens patriae action brought by the Attorney General of Kentucky. The lawsuit alleged that Marathon restrained trade in and monopolized the market for reformulated gasoline in the Louisville and Northern Kentucky metropolitan areas. The district court granted summary judgment to Marathon.

Hyland v. Homeservices of America, et al. (E.D. Ky.) – Matt currently represents a real estate brokerage firm accused of conspiring with other real estate brokers to fix the commissions on residential real estate in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  The district court certified a class of more than 70,000 sellers of residential real estate for the period 2001-2005.  In July of 2012, less than two weeks before trial was set to begin, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of our client. The Sixth Circuit affirmed.

Midwest Agency Services et al. v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. et al. (E.D. Ky.) – Matt represented the defendants in the successful defense of tying and state law claims.  The plaintiffs alleged that Chase Bank refused to purchase automobile loans made by dealers unless the loans included a gap product issued by a Chase affiliate, and that this amounted to illegal tying under the federal antitrust laws and violations of Kentucky insurance statutes.  The district court dismissed all claims, accepting all of the arguments advanced on behalf of the defendants: (1) the plaintiffs failed to plead injury to overall competition and thus had not established antitrust injury, (2) the conduct alleged was not a tying arrangement at all, but rather the defendants’ legitimate choice as to what risks to accept, and (3) the conduct alleged did not violate the Kentucky insurance statutes.

Kentucky Speedway LLC v. NASCAR (E.D. Ky.) – Matt represented NASCAR in the successful defense of a conspiracy and monopolization case brought by Kentucky Speedway in federal district court. The lawsuit alleged that NASCAR and various racetrack operators, including NASCAR’s sister company, had conspired to exclude Kentucky Speedway and that NASCAR had illegally monopolized stock car racing.  The district judge granted summary judgment for the defense.  The Sixth Circuit affirmed.

ClarkWestern Dietrich Building Systems, LLC v. Certified Steel Stud Association et alia (Butler County Ohio) – Matt was part of the trial team that secured the largest verdict (in the longest jury trial) in the history of Butler County, Ohio. ClarkDietrich sued several competitors and their trade association for disparagement, defamation, violations of the Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and civil conspiracy. Matt led the damages aspects of the trial, including examination of both sides’ experts and relevant fact witnesses. He also handled settlement discussions. During the two-and-one-half month trial, three of the four defendants settled. The jury awarded $49.5 million in damages against the remaining defendant. The Ohio Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment.