Callahan & Blaine

Beckman Coulter manufactures medical instruments for hospitals, clinics and research centers worldwide. One of these instruments is the LX20 Blood Analyzer; after a yearlong search process, Beckman Coulter decided to outsource the manufacture of the circuit boards to Dovatron Manufacturing, Inc.

Beckman Coulter and Dovatron entered a partially written, partially oral contract in 1998 for Dovatron to manufacture its circuit boards. After a ten month FDA validation process Dovatron received an FDA certification so that the boards manufactured by Dovatron could be used in the medical instruments sold by Beckman Coulter. Then in late 1998 Dovatron suddenly insisted that Beckman Coulter pay an additional $300,000 that was not included under the terms of their original contract.

Witnesses testified that Steve Howard, the general manager and vice president of Dovatron, told Beckman that if they did not come up with the extra money, Dovatron would cut off production of the circuit boards. Because finding a new supplier for the circuit boards would likely take almost two years, Beckman agreed to pay the extra amount in order to avoid suffering great financial loss.

Then in early 2000, Dovatron was purchased by Flextronics, which notified Beckman that they would cease producing the company’s circuit boards on May 30, 2000 despite the fact that Beckman Coulter’s contract with Dovatron extended production to October 31, 2002. Flextronics then required Beckman to purchase certain worthless items, under the threat that would withhold or destroy critical circuit board components if the payments were not made.

Beckman Coulter engaged Callahan & Blaine to represent their case against Flextronics. The charges were breach of contract, concealment of overcharge, economic duress for the extra $300,000 charge by Dovatron, and economic duress for withholding critical components.

In the end, the jury awarded Beckman Coulter a verdict in excess of $934,400,000.

Callahan & Blaine’s business litigation practice is headed up by our founder, Daniel J. Callahan, who is nationally recognized as one of America’s preeminent litigators. Mr. Callahan and his team of over twenty senior attorneys have successfully litigated a wide array of complex business litigation cases, including: breach of contract, fraud, breach of warranty, product defect cases, partnership or shareholder disputes, unfair business practices, intellectual property litigation, director’s and officer’s disputes, defamation, and more.

When you need a proven business attorney, call Callahan & Blaine first.