Phoenix, Arizona-based Baird Williams & Greer, LLP, Wins $47 Million Verdict

May 20, 2010 - PRLog -- Phoenix-based Baird Williams & Greer, LLP, (www.bwglaw.net) law firm announced today a Maricopa County Superior Court jury verdict in the amount of $47,031,574 for its client, Arizona-based RCS Capital Development, against Australian-based A.B.C. Learning Centres Limited. The award was rendered by jury verdict on Friday, May 14, 2010, in Arizona State Superior Court. The lawsuit arose out of a breach of contract by A.B.C.’s United States subsidiary with RCS for the development of child care centers in Arizona. The case was tried successfully by Daryl M. Williams and Michael C. Blair, partners at Baird Williams & Greer. The RCS jury verdict against A.B.C. is, to date, the largest Arizona judgment in 2010.

A.B.C. Australia, prior to its November, 2008 receivership and subsequent liquidation, was the world’s largest provider of early childhood education services.  It listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in March 2006 with a value of AUD$2.5 billion, with operations in Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and the U.S.  On June 26, 2008, Morgan Stanley Private Equity purchased a 60 percent share of A.B.C.’s United States affiliate, Learning Care Group, Inc., for $429 million.  

A.B.C. tasked Jason Ireland from McGrath Nicol to represent the receivers of A.B.C., with Ireland taking the witness stand in the Phoenix trial. Baird Williams & Greer’s Daryl M. Williams, lead trial attorney for RCS Capital said: “the Arizona jury clearly understood that A.B.C. is liquidating and is unable to pay its debts as they become due because of what Ireland said. A.B.C.’s insolvency was one of the bases for the breach of contract claim asserted by RCS Capital.”

A.B.C. Australia has filed a lawsuit against RCS Capital in the state of Nevada in the United States, seeking to recover approximately AUS$29 million, but Williams predicted that “the verdict against A.B.C. for approximately USD$47 million is likely the end of the litigation in Nevada.”

Williams contends that a judgment in RCS’s favor against A.B.C, even in this economy, is meaningful. “A.B.C.’s operations in the United States have assets subject to liquidation to satisfy RCS Capital’s claim,” said Williams.  “Based on the jury’s verdict, the receivers managing A.B.C. were quite unrealistic in their assessment of their liabilities in this case and the management of A.B.C so far as its dealings with both RCS and other entities in the United States.”

For more information or to arrange an interview with Daryl Williams of Baird Williams & Greer, LLP, contact Daniel Moran at PRfect Media (480) 706-6880 x122 or by e-mail at dmoran@prfectmedia.com. For more information about Baird Williams & Greer, LLP, please visit www.bwglaw.net.

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ABOUT BAIRD WILLIAMS & GREER
Phoenix, Arizona-based Baird Williams & Greer, LLP, is a first-tier law firm that specializes in commercial and personal injury litigation, employment law, construction law, airport and aviation law, arts and entertainment and commercial transactions and real estate. The Baird Williams & Greer management team has been selected to the prestigious Southwest Super Lawyers three times and for three consecutive years was voted into Ranking Arizona’s top 10 Arizona Law Firms. For more information about Baird Williams & Greer, LLP, and its practice information, please visit www.bwglaw.net.