VOIS, Inc. v. Michael Spindel and Edward Spindel,
Case No. 10-15668-D

We represented a corporation that had gone through multiple changes of ownership since issuing promissory notes to two of its investors and former directors, the Spindels. The corporation sued the Spindels for corporate wrongdoing, and the Spindels countersued claiming they were never paid under the promissory notes relating to their investments. The Spindels removed the case to federal court. During the litigation, the corporation discovered that it possessed the original promissory notes, giving rise to the legal presumption that the debts had been satisfied. However, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the Spindels, despite evidence showing that the corporation properly mailed the original promissory notes to the Spindels, supporting the corporation’s position that its debt under the notes had been satisfied.

On appeal, we argued that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the Spindels where evidence existed from which a finder of fact could conclude the corporation mailed the spindles the original promissory notes. Summary judgment is inappropriate where there exists conflicting evidence as to an issue of material fact. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit agreed. The court reasoned that the trial court’s finding the evidence was undisputed was erroneous because the corporation had produced evidence indicating that it sent the Spindels the original notes. The Eleventh Circuit reversed and remanded to the trial court.

Bell v. Bell

This was a divorce case involving several issues regarding the parties’ marital and non-marital assets. Our client appealed and the opposing party cross appealed. Our client’s main issues were the trial court’s failure to (1) award her half of the husband’s accounts receivable from loans he made to his businesses; and (2) make factual findings before denying her request for bridge-the-gap alimony.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed that the trial court erred in failing to award our client half of the husband’s accounts receivable. It reversed and remanded with instructions that the trial court make specific written findings regarding the assets. Likewise, Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed that the trial court reversibly erred in failing to make the appropriate findings regarding our client’s request for bridge-the-gap-alimony, and it also reversed on that point. Our client was awarded entitlement to attorney’s fees as the prevailing party. Shortly thereafter, the opposing party filed a motion for rehearing and/or clarification to which our client responded. In agreement with our response, the Fourth District Court of Appeal denied the opposing party’s request for rehearing and/or clarification.