- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Landlord sued to enforce commercial lease against tenant. Tenant had allowed her limited liability company to be administratively dissolved and entered into an amended lease with landlord in her individual name. The parties did not use attorneys for the preparation or execution of the amended lease and merely struck through...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
The trial court granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings because the personal guarantees were unenforceable as a matter of law as not complying with the requirements for a guaranty of indebtedness set out by Kentucky statute. Personal guarantee/business debt/KRS 371.065/credit agreement/unenforceable/sophisticated business person Read more ›
...- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
The trial court granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings because the personal guarantees were unenforceable as a matter of law as not complying with the requirements for a guaranty of indebtedness set out by Kentucky statute. Personal guarantee/business debt/KRS 371.065/credit agreement/unenforceable/sophisticated business person Read more ›
...- Filed Under: Equine, Litigation
Trainer breached lease agreement by failing to pay rent and physically damaging the premise. After forcible detainer order was entered, Landlord sued to recover damages and summary judgment was granted over request for continuance. Tenant appealed. Court of Appeals affirmed monetary judgment against trainer (including attorneys’ fee recovery) and the...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Employment, Litigation
The Kentucky Supreme Court clarified that the corporate fiduciary duty statute defined the duties of a director when acting in his official capacity on behalf of the corporation, but did not displace fiduciary duties when he was acting in his individual capacity and not in a corporate one. Thus, common...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Resident of Atlanta shipped item back to Atlanta by UPS while in Texas. The package travelled through the UPS hub in Louisville, Kentucky. While processing through the hub, Louisville Metro police used a drug sniffing dog as part of a task force to “smell out” probable cause. Identifying the package...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
MGM represented the unsecured creditors committee of one of the sister companies that was a joint debtor in this case. This case concerned whether MGM’s client was liable for the environmental reclamation obligations of its sister company based on state law derivative liability or federal law substantive consolidation. The U.S....
- Filed Under: Litigation
Thomas W. Miller, attorney at Miller, Griffin & Marks, PSC, was appointed by Governor Steve Beshear as Special Justice to the Kentucky Supreme Court for this case that addressed appellate jurisdiction issues in a wrongful death action. Appellate jurisdiction/ co-administrators/ fair notice of the appeal/ failure to name proper party...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Property owners in Fayette and Clark Counties in Kentucky learned of an effort to “nominate” their property to be listed on the National Historic Registry run by the National Park Service. The properties involved totaled well over 10,000 acres and would be designated as a National Historic District. Several property owners...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Adjacent landowner sought to enforce deed restrictions against current property owner to prohibit the sale of used cars and repair of trucks on the premises. Current property owner planned to build a new car dealership on the site with the obvious related business of sale of used cars and truck...
- Filed Under: Equine, Litigation
Veterinarian was charged with possession of sealed alpha cobratoxin vials and carbidopa/levodopa tablets at Keeneland training facility. The Stewards suspended the vet for four years for possession of cobratoxin and one year for carbidopa/levodopa, to run consecutively. The Franklin Circuit Court reversed carbidopa/levodopa suspension, finding that it was not based...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Equine, Litigation
Blue Skies Racing Stable, LLC appealed a judgment of the Fayette Circuit Court dismissing appellee, O’Sullivan Farms, LLC from its declaratory action. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. The controversy centered over who was entitled to ownership of a thoroughbred stallion named LIMEHOUSE. Blue Skies contended that it had...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
What began as a landlord/tenant case with the landlord enforcing the terms of a residential lease that contained an early termination liquidated damage charge, ended up in bankruptcy court. The initial claim was that a few thousand dollars were owed because the tenant ‘walked out’ before the end of the...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Insurance Defense, Litigation
In a declaratory judgment action, business owning bar sought recovery of its costs from its general liability carrier of its defense in litigation in which it was successful in obtaining summary judgment. Insurance carrier had not only denied coverage but also denied a duty to defend. The denial of defense...
- Filed Under: Employment, Litigation
A disbarred attorney sought to recover fees from another attorneys after both had been disbarred and with no evidence the suing attorney had provided any legal services on any of the cases or for any of the clients when he produced no records to support his claims or even identify...
Michael D. Meuser and Michelle Hurley, both attorneys and shareholders at Miller, Griffin & Marks, P.S.C., were named co-winners of the Edward S. Bonnie 2013 Outstanding Kentucky Equine Lawyer Award by the Equine Law Section of the Kentucky Bar Association. The award was presented during a ceremony at Churchill Downs...
- Filed Under: Equine, Litigation
Veterinarian was charged with possession of sealed alpha cobratoxin vials and carbidopa/levodopa tablets at Keeneland training facility. The Stewards suspended the vet for four years for possession of cobratoxin and one year for carbidopa/levodopa, to run consecutively. The Franklin Circuit Court reversed carbidopa/levodopa suspension, finding that it was not based...
Alpert v. Thomas, 643 F. Supp. 1406 (D. Vt. 1986). An Arabian horse buyer claimed that prior to purchase of the horse, which was acquired as a stallion prospect on an installment basis, she was given an oral guarantee that the horse would breed sound. The purchase agreement provided that...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Hillyer purchased a new truck. About two years later he asserted claims against the selling dealership for breach of contract, breach of warranty, fraud and violations of the Consumer Protection Act. Hillyer did not initially name the manufacturer in the action because he had initiated his dispute against the manufacturer...
- Filed Under: Family Law
This appeal involves a person’s ability to orally modify a maintenance obligation. Read more ›
...- Filed Under: Equine
Blue Skies Racing Stable, LLC appealed a judgment of the Fayette Circuit Court dismissing appellee, O’Sullivan Farms, LLC from its declaratory action. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. The controversy centered over who was entitled to ownership of a thoroughbred stallion named LIMEHOUSE. Blue Skies contended that it had...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Defendant sought leave to file an amended counterclaim to assert several significant claims related to the prior sale of the business. The Court in a lengthy opinion and order granted leave to assert numerous additional claims, including conversion of the website and related data, breach of fiduciary duty, diversion of...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Employment, Litigation
Employee work for over a decade for employer. At some point post-employment, employer requested a non-compete be executed by the employee. Some stock options were awarded as part of that agreement. Years later employer sought to down-size and terminated employee under a reduction in force. Employee sought out new employment...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Two individuals purchased a mostly-completed new house construction out of foreclosure. They finished the construction which involved items such as carpet and painting and not substantive construction work, and sold the house “as is”. Buyer subsequently discovered that the windows in the basement were not sufficient size to allow bedroom...
- Filed Under: Family Law
This family court case involves recovery of a significant attorneys’ fee award. Read more ›
...- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Equine, Litigation
Blue Skies Racing Stable, LLC appealed a judgment of the Fayette Circuit Court dismissing appellee, O’Sullivan Farms, LLC from its declaratory action. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. The controversy centered over who was entitled to ownership of a thoroughbred stallion named LIMEHOUSE. Blue Skies contended that it had...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Customer executed a personal guarantee of business obligations. Upon default, customer challenged the personal guarantee claiming it unenforceable under KRS 371.065. The trial court agreed and the Kentucky Court of Appeals affirmed opining that the guarantee was not attached to the note, did not refer to the specific note nor...
- Filed Under: Family Law
This case involves De Facto Custodian (caregivers other than biological parents being placed on the same footing as parents) matters. Read more ›
...- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
MGM represented the mortgagee in this case. This case concerned the efforts of a mortgagee to collect in state court the amounts due from the personal guarantors of the loan after the property was sold during the mortgagor’s bankruptcy proceeding. The Kentucky Court of Appeals found that the fact that...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Landlord sought recovery of unpaid rent and costs to repair damage to the residence which was not returned in the condition that it was rented. Trial court awarded recovery of all amounts including attorneys’ fees under KRS 363.660, tenant’s willful breach of the lease. The Court of Appeals reversed on...
- Filed Under: Litigation
University of Kentucky branch into commercial development with its Coldstream land and the construction of a large building just off the Interstate Highway, well away from the University. The development was unique in that the University entered into a long-term land lease of the real property to a third party...
- Filed Under: Equine, Litigation
In the absence of an agreement, a horse purchaser adviser is limited to recovering 5% of the purchase price. Read more ›
...- Filed Under: Employment, Litigation
In a case that involved a question of scope of employment under a vicarious liability theory, the Court held that an insurance sales representative who caused an auto accident and injuries while driving to the office to start the day was acting in the course and scope of his employment...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
Cummins v. Morita, et al. (No. 2007-CA-002101-MR & No. 2008-CA-000212-MR, KY Court of Appeals 2010) A borrower obtained a mortgage loan and subsequently complained that he had been under a belief he was dealing with a specific lender. The borrower further claimed the mortgage broker who handled the transaction made...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
MGM represented various businesses that participated in a workers’ compensation self insurance group called AIK. These groups are permitted by Kentucky statute for the purpose of diluting workers’ compensation liability by spreading out the risks to a large group of employers. Under the plan, all of the approximately 3,000 businesses...
- Filed Under: Employment, Litigation
Justin Crawford, a Sergeant in the Custody Bureau at the Fayette County Detention Center, came to Miller, Griffin & Marks with a complaint: the Detention Center administrators routinely refused to allow officers to take legally required meal and rest breaks, were not fairly compensating them for the true number of...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Equine, Litigation
MGM represented a horse training facility in recovering back rent owed by a trainer who breached her lease agreement. The trainer responded to the suit by filing a counterclaim seeking damages for an allegedly improper lien placed on the horses she trained but did not own. Judgment was granted on...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Employment, Litigation
MGM assisted a local small business group in obtaining a judgment against an individual former co-owner defendant for theft and embezzlement. After the judgment was entered, the defendant could not be found for more than a year. Once he was located, MGM sought to satisfy the judgment by serving a...
- Filed Under: Family Law, Litigation
In Wood v Vranicar & Wood v Smith, case no. 05-CI-3127, a Mandy Jo’s Law case under KRS 411.137 tried to the Fayette Circuit Court in a dispute over the wrongful death proceeds arising from a child’s death resulting from negligent treatment at a hospital and the mother’s challenge to...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
A dispute arose in a limited partnership after the relationship between one of the general partners and a limited partner deteriorated. The limited partnership was formed for the purpose of leasing and developing shopping centers. The only other general partner was terminally ill with cancer and desperately tried to resolve...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
A customer purchased a used vehicle, took delivery and then almost immediately defaulted under the purchase contract terms by failing to pay. The vehicle was repossessed and then the customer filed a tort suit against the car dealership seeking damages for emotional distress and inconvenience that resulted from the repossession...
- Filed Under: Corporate & Transactional, Litigation
A homebuyer accepted an offer to purchase the home of a couple that was moving out of state. Due to the age of the house, the listing realtor suggested that a prelisting inspection, including a termite inspection, be conducted before listing the property. The sellers had the house professionally inspected....
- Filed Under: Employment, Litigation
An off-duty police officer working as a security guard for the Fayette Mall was involved in a confrontation with a suicidal suspect. The officer shot and killed the suspect without any physical contact or any physical injuries. The officer later alleged that the incident caused him to suffer from post-traumatic...
- Filed Under: Litigation
Lexington Humane Society (”LHS”) filed an Amicus Curie Brief in a criminal matter to argue for restitution in its favor from the defendant based upon LHS having cared for and boarded (at its expense) several animals during the pendency of the criminal matter which were the basis for cruelty charges...
