What is a Civil Case 2007 Sidley Austin

What is a Civil Case? © 2007 Sidley Austin LLP, Los Angeles, CA All rights reserved.

Based in part on a breach of contract case against Ashanti T. E. A. M. Entertainment, Inc. v. Douglas, et al. United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Civil vs. Criminal Cases Civil Criminal Subject Matter Contract or personal injury/property loss Actions that government has decided are harmful to public safety Burden of Proof Preponderance of the evidence (generally) Beyond a reasonable doubt Resolution Liable or not liable Guilty or not guilty Penalty Monetary compensation or injunctive relief Fine, imprisonment or death Party that brings case An individual or a company (the plaintiff) The state or federal government (the prosecution)

Different Results May Occur In Civil And Criminal Cases • Different burdens of proof • Different rules govern the trial (evidence may be permitted in a civil case but not a criminal case) • Result: An individual may be found not guilty in a criminal trial for murder, but liable for wrongful death in a civil trial.

Stages of a Civil Case Requests for Documents Interrogatories/ Requests for Admissions Complaint Depositions Answer Discovery Pretrial Trial Court of Appeal Supreme Court

What is a Contract? A contract is an agreement between two people or companies that describes what each side promises to do. How do you Enforce a Contract? A party to a contract can use the civil courts to force the other party to fulfill its promise or to compensate for a monetary loss.

What do you have to prove in a breach of contract lawsuit? 1. A valid contract. 2. Plaintiff did everything he or she was supposed to do under the contract or was excused from performing. 3. Defendant did not do what he or she was supposed to do under the contract. 4. Plaintiff suffered harm because defendant failed to comply with the requirements of the contract.

Facts of the Case In June 1996, Ashanti approached T. E. A. M. Entertainment, a company specializing in the production of hiphop and R&B recordings in an effort to obtain T. E. A. M. ’s assistance in securing a contract with a major record label. T. E. A. M. co-wrote several songs with Ashanti and produced and engineered these recordings in T. E. A. M. ’s recording studio. In 1997, T. E. A. M. entered into a written contract with Ashanti.

The written contract provided: --T. E. A. M. would try to secure a record contract for Ashanti with a major record label and provide marketing, production and studio services to Ashanti. --Ashanti would exclusively provide her services for the performance and production of demonstration recordings to T. E. A. M.

In September of 1997, however, T. E. A. M. agreed to release Ashanti from her contract at her request because she wanted to pursue a relationship with Noontime Music. Under the release, T. E. A. M. was entitled to payments in connection with any albums Ashanti produced with Noontime. Ashanti subsequently entered into a contract with Noontime.

In 1999, Ashanti and Noontime terminated their agreement because Noontime’s distributor had decided not to market R & B music. Noontime never released any albums. Subsequently, Ashanti entered into a new contract with a separate recording company and distributor and released several albums.

Each of Ashanti’s albums with her new record label sold over a million copies and generated a substantial profit. T. E. A. M sought payment from Ashanti but Ashanti refused, saying that “the albums were not released by Noontime. ” What happened next?

Attorneys for T. E. A. M. filed a complaint in federal court in NY against Ashanti. T. E. A. M. argued that Ashanti had breached her contract with T. E. A. M. by failing to pay it any portion of the revenue earned by her albums. T. E. A. M. argued that it had helped launch Ashanti’s music career and was abandoned as soon as she began achieving some success.

Attorneys for Ashanti defended her with the following arguments: Ashanti fully performed her obligations under her contract with T. E. A. M. No money was owed to T. E. A. M. because no albums were created under the Noontime contract. T. E. A. M. had breached the agreement.

To litigate this case: Discovery: What information does T. E. A. M. need to obtain in order to prove its case? What information does Ashanti need to obtain in order to defend herself? -- who will they want to talk to? -- what documents will they want to review? -- what questions will they want to have answered?

The Trial The trial lasted three days. Counsel for T. E. A. M. argued that T. E. A. M. spent significant time working with Ashanti on her music. T. E. A. M. only released her from the contract with the mutual understanding that T. E. A. M. would receive a portion of the royalties for her album. T. E. A. M. claimed it was due millions of dollars in royalties.

Ashanti denied that she had breached the contract with T. E. A. M. because she did not release any albums with Noontime. She denied T. E. A. M. ’s contributions to her career and further denied that she owed T. E. A. M. any money.

What Happened? The jury found that Ashanti breached the contract and awarded T. E. A. M. $630, 000. That was not the end of the case…

Ashanti filed a post-verdict motion Ashanti filed a motion that argued that the judge should overturn the jury’s verdict and either: (a) Rule that the jury got it totally wrong and made an error in its verdict; (b) Grant Ashanti a new trial on the issue of damages; or (c) Reduce the award to an amount consistent with the evidence. T. E. A. M. opposed Ashanti’s motion.

What did the judge do? The judge granted a new trial limited to the issue of damages.

What happened at the new trial? One day into the new trial on damages, the parties entered into a confidential settlement and the case was dismissed. Why would the parties have settled?