Houston trial attorney Steven Mitby, founding partner of Mitby Pacholder Johnson (MPJ) PLLC, was part of the legal team that secured a significant appellate victory for Versata Software before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Versata Software Inc. v. Ford Motor Co. (Case No. 2:15-cv-10628, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan).
On May 22, the Federal Circuit upheld a jury verdict awarding more than $82 million in breach-of-contract damages to Versata and ordered a new trial on unjust enrichment claims. The ruling revives the possibility that Versata could ultimately recover up to $1 billion in damages related to claims involving Ford’s alleged misuse of Versata’s proprietary automotive software technology.
“This ruling validates the jury’s findings and represents a significant victory for our client after years of hard-fought litigation,” said Steven Mitby. “We were proud to help present a compelling case demonstrating the value of Versata’s technology and the importance of enforcing contractual and intellectual property rights.”
For the appeal, Mitby served as co-lead appellate counsel alongside Dan Webb of Winston Taylor LLP (f.k.a Winston & Strawn LLP) in Chicago. Additional counsel for Versata included Jeffrey A. Lamken of MoloLampken LLP in Washington, D.C.; Jennifer Fischell, Michael G. Pattillo Jr., Thomas Schubert, and Eugene A. Sokoloff of MoloLampken in Chicago; Matthew R. Carter and Samuel Zuidema of Winston Taylor in Chicago; Jaye Quadrozzi of Varnum LLP in Birmingham, Michigan; and Sharoon Saleem of JonesSpross, PLLC in Austin, Texas.
Throughout the litigation, Mitby handled critical aspects of the case, including key depositions, summary judgment motions, pretrial motions, and liability analysis that proved instrumental to the outcome. At trial, Versata’s legal team presented testimony and technical evidence that demonstrated Ford had copied and misused Versata’s software technology to save substantial warranty, recall, and vehicle design costs.
The team also successfully simplified highly technical issues for the Detroit jury and used cross-examinations of Ford’s corporate representative and technical expert to challenge core components of Ford’s defense.
Mitby previously served as co-lead trial counsel for Versata in securing a $104.6 million jury verdict against Ford Motor Company for trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract.
The dispute arose from Ford’s long-term licensing relationship with Versata dating back to the 1990s, involving Versata’s automotive-configuration software known as ACM. Versata alleged that Ford improperly used the company’s proprietary technology to develop an internal “like-for-like” replacement system after the parties’ licensing agreement ended.
In the original verdict, the jury awarded Versata $82.3 million for breach of contract and $22.4 million for trade secret misappropriation. Although the district court later reduced portions of the damages award, the Federal Circuit reinstated the breach-of-contract damages after finding the jury had calculated those damages with reasonable certainty. The appellate court also directed further proceedings regarding trade-secret-related damages. A copy of the Federal Circuit ruling can be found here.