Jeff Swart and Tejas Patel recently obtained a complete appellate victory for SunTrust, protecting a summary judgment award in a defamation action brought against the company. Jud Graves and Robert Long represented SunTrust in the district court and successfully secured an award of summary judgment in SunTrust's favor. Plaintiff then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Following oral argument, which was the subject of an article in
Law 360, the Second Circuit panel unanimously affirmed the trial court’s award of summary judgment. This was a high-profile case in which Plaintiff accused SunTrust of falsely reporting the circumstances of a "spring-loaded" stock options grant involving Plaintiff, the former CEO of Cyberonics, Inc., who was ousted in the wake of a stock options scandal. The Second Circuit's decision was the subject of a second article in
Law 360, which made note of the firm's involvement.
See Erin Marie Daly,
2nd Circ. Affirms SunTrust Win In Defamation Suit,
Law 360, March 25, 2011.