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COLVIN LAW FIRM SETTLES TOWN SUITS AGAINST ENTERGY
Three years ago, Colvin Law Firm filed suit on behalf of five municipalities in north Louisiana against their respective electrical provider, Entergy Louisiana, L.L.C. The lawsuit sought repayment of franchise fees that were underpaid to these municipalities, retroactive to the incipiency of their respective franchise agreements, in some cases going back to 1992. The principal issue turned on the interpretation of each town's "most favored nation's clause." In summary, each town's "most favored nation's clause" provided that in the event Entergy was to pay a higher franchise fee than the 2%, which was the percentage being paid to each plaintiff/municipality, Entergy would be required to automatically increase the franchise fee paid to the plaintiff/municipality by an equal amount.
The firm recently negotiated a settlement with Entergy that called for the repayment of a substantial portion of these lost franchise fees, as well as the payment of up to a 5% franchise fee going forward, with the additional franchise fee being reflected as a line item on the customer's bill in accordance with orders of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. All suits on behalf of these towns were settled under the same terms, which resulted in substantial cash payments to each municipality relative to the total franchise fees previously paid by Entergy, as well as the opportunity to increase their franchise fees from 2% to 5%.
In late 2007, the Colvin Law Firm filed suit in the United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana - Shreveport division, to collect monies owed to a Texas-based subcontractor, Albin Construction, L.L.C. ("Albin"), in connection with the construction of student housing facilities at Grambling State University. The case quickly became much more complex when the defendant, a large national construction company, filed a counter claim for allegedly defective work, which prompted Albin to amend its Complaint to assert a claim for lost profits. Almost every aspect of pre-trial litigation was encountered during this litigation, including extensive written discovery, numerous depositions of parties to the litigation as well as other non-party witnesses, and the review of thousands of documents relating to the large construction project; discovery disputes concerning the discoverability of witness statements and other general matters; extensive motion practice involving the drafting of pleadings targeted at the invalidity of the defendant's counter claim (which was ultimately dismissed); extensive consultation with and retention of an engineering expert (concerning the work quality allegations) and a Certified Public Account (concerning the lost profit claim); and preparation of an extensive motion for summary judgment concerning multiple aspects of the litigation.
Ultimately, through an aggressive litigation strategy which narrowed the matter to confront the key issues, the Colvin Law Firm successfully resolved the case prior to trial for 100% of the sums Albin claimed it was due from the construction company. Due to the satisfactory result, the Colvin Law Firm now represents the principal of Albin in other unrelated matters.
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