Business Disputes and Commercial Litigation


Experienced business and commercial litigators

Business and commercial litigation can be extremely stressful and time consuming.  Our attorneys have experience assisting clients with commercial litigation and business disputes that threaten our clients' livelihoods and means of financial security.  Not all cases go to court.  Because our lawyers have a reputation for trying cases, we know how to properly prepare cases for trial, allowing us to negotiate successful settlements.  

We are experienced in all aspects of commercial and business litigation, including complex discovery motions and e-discovery issues.  We have experience working with forensic experts to engage in complicated discovery techniques involving cell phones, laptops, and hard drives.  The chair of our commercial and business litigation department, shareholder Kristin Olson, is listed in Best Lawyers in America© for commercial litigation.  Best Lawyers® is based entirely on peer review, and no more than 5% of private practice lawyers nationwide are selected for this honor. 

EXPERIENCED CONSTRUCTION LITIGATORS

Shareholder Scott Brooksby is the head of our construction practice.  Our attorneys practice all types of construction law on behalf of owners, contractors, suppliers, architects, engineers, consultants, and governmental entities in all stages of construction projects—from project inception and procurement through project management, settlement discussions, and, if necessary, trial.  

Bet-the-company litigators

Olson Brooksby has experience in bet-the-company litigation.  These are lawsuits that have the potential to destroy or outright obliterate a company.  Generally they are complex and involve multiple parties, layered discovery issues, and confidentiality concerns.  We have experience successfully negotiating settlements in these cases and preserving the companies we represent. When necessary, we will try these cases--we will not hand your case off to "trial counsel".  We will see you all the way through the conclusion of your case, and we know how to navigate high stakes cases when businesses and livelihoods are on the line.  

Olson Brooksby represents both businesses and individuals

We represent individuals and businesses in a wide variety of disputes, including contract and partnership disputes, business torts, professional malpractice defense, protection of customer and client lists, trade secrets, injunctions, and enforcement of noncompete agreements and restrictive covenants. Our clients range from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses and individuals.

We offer big firm skills coupled with boutique firm efficiency, responsiveness, and attentiveness

Our lawyers are seasoned litigators who can engage in the rigorous motion practice required of complex business litigation, including preliminary injunctions and expedited discovery motion practice.  The advantage of choosing Olson Brooksby is that our lawyers were shareholders at a large regional firm before starting Olson Brooksby.  We offer big firm skills coupled with boutique firm efficiency, responsiveness, and attentiveness.  We understand the quick-moving particularities of trade secret and restrictive covenant litigation. We devote ourselves to learning about and understanding our clients' businesses so that we can effectively and efficiently provide guidance concerning everything from insurance to restrictive covenants and noncompetes.  As small business owners ourselves, we are uniquely familiar with the complex nature of building, running, and preserving a business.  

Contract litigation

The lawyers at Olson Brooksby have decades of experience analyzing and litigating contracts.  We know how to effectively navigate arguments concerning nuanced contract interpretation, including the seeming minutiae of punctuation placement and word choice.  We have experience with oral contracts sealed with a handshake, as well as complex contracts that consist of reams of paper.   

Property and real estate litigation

We have experience with real estate claims, timber trespass cases, and complex property litigation.  

Experience and representative cases: 

  • Represented a nursing student in a dispute with a school of nursing and successfully negotiated a resolution. 
  • Assisted airlines and helicopter companies with airplane lease and contract disputes.  
  • Defended a medical group in a case involving one of their former physicians.  The claims in that case concerned breach of an employment agreement. 
  • Kristin Olson successfully brokered a resolution of cross-motions for preliminary injunction in a complex commercial matter in Seattle involving numerous construction projects worth millions.
  • Defense of an international business owner in multiple contentious lawsuits in state court and bankruptcy court in which claimed damages exceeded $1.2 million.  The cases involved allegations concerning breach of an employment agreement, breach of a noncompetition agreement, misappropriation of trade secrets, punitive damages, attorney fees, injunctions, and contempt sanctions. Kristin Olson brought a successful motion for settlement conference and resolved the case favorably.   
  • Kristin Olson obtained a dismissal of all claims in a breach of contract case brought by Dave’s Killer Bread against Kristin’s client, Montana Merchandising, Inc., a Montana grain company.  Dave’s Killer Bread, Inc. v. Mont. Merch., Inc., Case No. 3:17-cv-0237-YY (D. Or. July 12, 2017).  Dave’s Killer Bread filed a lawsuit against Kristin’s client in Oregon.  Kristin’s client responded by suing Dave’s in Montana.  A dispute arose regarding the most appropriate venue–Oregon or Montana–for this complex commercial litigation case.  In a Motion to Dismiss, Kristin argued that the case should be litigated in Montana and that the Oregon lawsuit should be dismissed in its entirety.  The United States District Court for the District of Oregon agreed, and dismissed the case against Kristin’s client.

Practice areas include: 

  • Breach of contract, including aviation contracts and employment agreements
  • Insurance-related contracts
  • Buy/sell agreements
  • Lending contracts
  • Distribution agreements
  • Professional service contracts
  • Property contracts
  • Sales agreements
  • Timber trespass
  • Business fraud and misrepresentation litigation
  • Real estate arbitration 
  • Adversary proceedings in bankruptcy court
  • General trespass and conversion
  • Interference with contractual relations
  • Interference with prospective business advantage
  • Business dissolution and disputes
  • Unfair competition and deceptive business practices 
  • Embezzlement
  • Actions for declaratory judgment
  • Mining and mineral claims
  • Defense of medical groups 
  • Commercial torts
  • Injunctions and injunction violations
  • Conversion
  • Noncompete agreements and restrictive covenants, including noncompetes involving doctors, manufacturers, and other professions
  • Trade secrets, unfair competition, and intellectual property
  • Breach of the duty of loyalty
  • Disputes regarding the "first-to-file" and simultaneous lawsuits in different venues
  • Document preservation litigation and procedures
  • Preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders