Success Stories
Civil Cases
- Mr. Pitzer has won victories for business clients in numerous industries. Most recently, Mr. Pitzer:
- Won a $3.32 million judgment (the full amount sought) after a federal court trial at which it was established that Mr. Pitzer’s client, the 50% owner of a family farm business, was the victim of a conspiracy to defraud. (October 2024)
- Won a total defense victory, plus an award of attorney’s fees and costs, in an arbitration case on behalf of a Portland landowner in a dispute involving historic boundary lines. (July 2024)
- Won a $65.5 million dollar verdict against one of the largest and best-represented accounting firms in the world after a two-week jury trial in a landmark case involving complex tax advice. (August 2023)
- Won a shareholder oppression trial in federal court resulting in the appointment of a custodian to liquidate corporate assets in order to pay his client $4.7 million as fair value for her shares. (December 2021)
- Won a unanimous decision in the Oregon Supreme Court establishing for the first time in Oregon history that parties have a right to a jury trial under the Oregon Constitution in a shareholder derivative action. (July 2021)
- Obtained an outright dismissal of all substantive claims against a real estate developer in a complex dispute with an investor in a multi-million-dollar hotel project. (March 2021)
- Won a victory in the Oregon Court of Appeals upholding a $10 million verdict Mr. Pitzer procured at the close of a three-week jury trial in Washington County. (April 2020)
- Won summary judgment for the defense in a complex lender-creditor lawsuit, defeating a $6.5 million claim based on lender misconduct uncovered in discovery. (Jan. 2020)
- Won the outright dismissal of a multi-million shareholder derivative lawsuit on behalf of a former executive of a Fortune 100 company. (October 2019)
- Won a complete victory for the defense (plus fees and costs) after a three-day arbitration, defeating fraud and rescission claims arising out of a Portland area real estate transaction. (July 2016)
- Successfully defended an international technology company in a multi-million-dollar trade secrets case involving geospatial imaging applications. Case concluded with plaintiff dropping all of its claims in their entirety for zero compensation. (September 2015)
- Won a $10 million dollar verdict after a three-week jury trial in a complex shareholder derivative case by proving that a group of directors attempted to conceal fraudulent technology and, as part of the cover-up, made the defrauder himself president of the company. (September 2014)
- Won the outright dismissal (with prejudice) of all claims against his client in a $75 million trade secrets case involving highly complicated laser crystal technology. (May 2014)
- Won a favorable settlement in a bet-the-company trade secrets case preserving an Oregon engineering firm’s ability to compete in the oil rig industry. (Jan. 2013)
- Won a preliminary injunction against the United States of America in a highly publicized case involving the rights of twelve Portland-area businesses to participate in an important federal program. (April 2012)
- Won a $2 million settlement at the close of a two-week jury trial in a fraud/construction defect case involving a prominent Oregon hotel. (June 2011)
- Won a directed verdict for the defense (after three days of testimony) in a fraud/construction defect trial in Portland. (November 2009)
- Won an outright victory in a complex trade secrets case involving semi-conductor technology where the plaintiff was forced to drop its entire case. (2009)
- Won a favorable settlement after a successful injunction hearing on behalf of a lawyer sued by his former partner. (2007)
- Won an emergency injunction (which led to a favorable settlement) in a complex real estate dispute involving several million dollars’ worth of farm property. (2006)
- Won an outright victory on behalf of a prominent group of Portland, Oregon radiologists in a multi-million-dollar antitrust case. (2005)
- Won a seven-figure settlement on behalf of an Oregon-based technology company in a vigorously contested breach of contract case involving complicated issues of exclusive marketing rights. (2005)
- Won a fraud and breach of contract trial on behalf of the purchaser of a downtown Portland restaurant who was swindled in the transaction. (2004)
- Won a cutting-edge and highly publicized trademark trial in Portland on behalf of a nationally recognized African musician. (February 2003)
- Won a temporary restraining order preventing the president and CEO of an Oregon technology company from misappropriating trade secrets and further damaging the company’s business. (August 2002)
- Won a high-profile eminent domain case, featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, which saved an Illinois landowner’s $35 million property. (appeal concluded in the fall of 2002)
- Was part of the trial team that won a $133 million jury verdict in federal court in Connecticut (the largest in the state’s history) in a complex financial dispute on behalf of a Fortune 100 company. (July 2000)
Criminal
- In addition to civil trials, Mr. Pitzer also devotes a portion of his practice, often on a pro bono basis, to criminal defense. Among other cases, Mr. Pitzer has:
- Successfully convinced federal prosecutors to dismiss charges of attempted murder and armed robbery by establishing that they had charged the wrong person.
- Won a Ninth Circuit appeal of multiple federal felony convictions on the ground that a critical defense witness should have been granted immunity.
- Won a first degree murder jury trial on behalf of a wrongly-accused father of four who suffered from cognitive issues that made it difficult for him to resist coercive tactics used to get him to sign a confession to the murder.
- Won an aggravated robbery jury trial where the alleged victim was compelled to admit that she stole the goods herself.
- Won an armed robbery jury trial where the victim was shown to have mistakenly identified the defendant.
- Won an armed violence bench trial where the police falsified their reports.
- Won a prostitution procurement bench trial on behalf of an innocent businessman mistakenly entrapped in a government sting operation.
- Won the appeal of a conviction in a first-degree murder case where the appellate court concluded that the alleged eyewitness never saw the shooting.
- Won a rare grant of habeas corpus from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in a first-degree murder case (later reversed by an en banc panel of the Seventh Circuit, but then reversed again on a post-conviction petition).
Pitzer Law provides top flight representation to a broad base of business clients, often in complex disputes where the very survival of the company is at stake.
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- Pitzer Law
- 210 SW Morrison St., Suite 600
- Portland, OR 97204
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