Geoffrey Scott Harper

• Utah Contract Action—Hired three days before trial after disastrous pretrial hearing which included summary judgment ruling on liability, sanctions orders, and evidence exclusions. Took over trial team and obtained jury verdict for half of last settlement offer and less than 10% of claimed damages.
• Represented Francesco Galesi, director and member of the finance committee at Worldcom, in multiple class actions seeking more than $1 trillion for fraud and violations of securities laws. Settled during jury selection for unique settlement allowing client to pay a fraction of damages of other directors.
• Defended Little League International in bet-the-company litigation alleging that the youth baseball organization was responsible for the actions of a Texas baseball coach who was convicted for assaulting numerous of his young players. Case settled before trial on confidential and favorable terms.
• Represented Cook Children’s Hospital in employment discrimination suit against pediatric surgeon claiming tens of millions in damages. Obtained summary judgment on the eve of trial vindicating the hospital’s employment practices, which was upheld on appeal.
• Represented architect William Croft in suit against world’s largest architecture firm for fraud and breach of employment contract. After two-week trial, obtained jury verdict for more than $4 million representing 120% of requested award. Listed as one of the verdicts of the year by the Dallas Business Journal.
• Hired after client received ex-parte TRO at 5:30 PM on December 23 ordering, among other things, Yahoo, Inc. to turn off its website. Obtained dissolution of TRO in less than 24 hours (after locating judge to conduct adversary hearing on a holiday). Case then traveled through multiple judges and jurisdictions with plaintiffs trying to reinstate injunctive relief (and recused judge). Obtained summary judgment of all claims against represented directors.
• Defended Excel Transportation in suit against former employees seeking more than $50 million for breach of contract and fraud. After two-week trial, jury awarded less than $1.5 million. Obtained complete defense verdict award of no damages on appeal.
• Representing Hunt Asset Management in litigation against investors in a telecommunications company. Case settled before trial for exchange of releases and no monies from Hunt.
• Hired by Sterling Infosystem, Inc. after existing counsel and magistrate judge recommended settlement of FCRA class action for $40 million. Altered case strategy, asserted new defenses, and engaged in minimal discovery. The day after filing the brief in opposition to plaintiff’s motion for class certification, plaintiff called and asked to settle. Case settled for $20,000.
• After obtaining the settlement above, was hired by Sterling Infosystems, Inc. to take over seven class actions seeking more than $1 billion in damages pending in Virginia, California, Ohio, New York, and Illinois. Obtained dismissals of multiple matters and stays in others. The remaining matters settled on extremely favorable terms.
• In a case recognized as one of the top 40 jury verdicts of the year by Texas Lawyer magazine, represented Lighthouse Programs LLC as plaintiff in infringement case that resulted in $5.5 million jury award.
• In re Cool Partners - Represented group of shareholders and bankruptcy estate in litigation against members of board of directors for fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Case settled during summary judgment argument for US$9 million, representing 90% of corporate liability insurance policies.

Geoffrey Harper is a highly sought after trial lawyer that focuses on complex commercial disputes.  Representing individuals and businesses as plaintiffs and defendants, Geoffrey has litigated cases in 29 states and five countries with a lengthy record of success. As one client noted after hiring Geoffrey just three days before trial to take over his defense, “I will never go to trial without Geoffrey Harper again.”

Geoffrey has tried more than 30 cases to verdict as lead counsel and is known for his ability to manage bet-the-company litigation under the most difficult of circumstances. His litigation philosophy involves preparing every case for trial from the very beginning of the engagement while focusing on his client’s goals and needs. While the majority of cases will be resolved long before trial, Geoffrey believes that the best way to achieve optimal results for his clients is to always focus on how the case would be tried.

Geoffrey concentrates his practice on commercial litigation lawsuits and has extensive experience in areas such as contractual disputes, class actions, securities litigation, intellectual property disputes, employment disputes, arbitrations, internal investigations, and healthcare matters.

Clients frequently seek Geoffrey’s counsel while facing significant crises or when needing new and creative approaches. He has been retained numerous times shortly before trial by clients seeking help after obtaining adverse rulings and needing to revamp the trial strategy. He has represented clients in some of the largest and highest stake cases in the country as well as other high-profile matters.