Date: 11-03-2009

Case Style: Southern Electronics Supply, Inc. and Active Solutions, L.L.C. v. Dell Inc., et al.

Case Number:

Judge: Rosemary Ledet

Court: District Court, New Orleans Parrish, Louisiana (New Orleans County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Gladstone Jones, Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison, LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana and and James Garner, Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert, L.L.C., New Orleans, Louisiana

Defendant's Attorney: Phillip Wittmann, Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann L.L.C., New Orleans, Louisiana

Description: Southern Electronics Supply Inc. and Active Solutions LLC sued Dell, Inc., Greg Meffert and others on unfair competition and conspiracy theories over the City of New Orlean's crime camera surveillance program. Plaintiffs claimed that they developed a crime surveillance camera system to sell to the City.

They claimed and Dell and others unfairly conspired to take the business away from them. They claimed that a company called, NetMethods, was created specifically to compete unfairly with them and that Greg Meffert, then a city employee, worked with the company. He ordered a handful of cameras from Dell before leaving his job with the City in July 2006.

Defendants claimed that Plaintiffs were unhappy because they lost a business opportunity because of high prices and poor performance.

Outcome: Plaintiffs' verdict for $2.8 million from Dell, finding the companies relied to their detriment on promises by Dell. It awarded another $3.5 million in damages for contract interference, assigning blame to Meffert and others.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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