Attorney John Coleman Morrison III's Legal Cases

Litigation

Cohan v. KPMG

Jan 14, 2014

OUTCOME: Confidential Cash Settlement

Plaintiff Christopher Cohan owned a very successful cable company. When he began to consider selling the company, his longtime accountants and auditors, KPMG, told him that they could structure any sal ... e to minimize the income taxes Cohan would owe on the profits. KPMG told Cohan their strategy would provide a permanent tax savings, and Cohan believed them. KPMG concealed from Cohan that their strategy was actually a series of fraudulent tax shelters designed to generate bogus losses, and that KPMG knew the shelters would not survive IRS scrutiny. The IRS did investigate Cohan, and, as a result of KPMG's misrepresentations and fraudulent conduct, Cohan had to pay over $200 million in taxes, penalties, interest and fees - more than the profits he received from the sale in the first place. Cohan also lost his company, which by 2013 would have been worth some $220 million more than it sold for in 1998. Plaintiffs sued KPMG for fraud, professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract. Plaintiffs sought nearly $500 million in damages. While the settlement amount is confidential at KPMG's insistence, Plaintiffs and their counsel were very pleased with the settlement. Plaintiffs successfully defeated two motions to dismiss and a motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs also won a court Order directing KPMG to produce documents KPMG had concealed, and another court Order allowing Plaintiffs to take the trial deposition of a former KPMG expert witness who had defended the KPMG tax strategies in 14 prior cases. That witness testified that KPMG had deceived him and concealed from him internal KPMG documents that revealed KPMG knew its tax strategies were fraudulent. KPMG settled the case just a week before trial, on the morning when the Court was scheduled to rule upon motions in limine and one day before Plaintiffs were set to take the videotaped deposition for use at trial of KPMG's "Vice Chairman - Legal," a former federal judge.

Wrongful death

Humphrey v Brilansie et al

Dec 31, 2013

OUTCOME: 2.5 million verdict

Wrongful Death

Class action

Buckner v. Resource Life

Jan 01, 2010

OUTCOME: $47.75 million cash settlement

Plaintiff Dorothy Buckner brought this class action on behalf of herself and a group of Resource Life insureds who did not receive a refund of their unearned credit insurance premiums when they paid of ... f their insured car loans early. Defendant Resource Life contended that language in its credit insurance contract meant that it had no obligation to refund its insureds' unearned credit insurance premiums unless and until its insureds wrote it and requested a refund. Plaintiff's counsel prevailed on that key issue and established that the Defendant had no right to keep its insureds' money. A Class was thereafter certified by the Superior Court of Muscogee County, Georgia. During discovery, Plaintiff's counsel learned that Resource Life was concealing important evidence it had previously told both the Court and Plaintiff's counsel it did not have. Plaintiff's counsels' determination to find this hidden evidence and resulted in what is believed to be the largest sanction in Georgia history being entered against Resource Life for misconduct and discovery abuse. The trial court's orders granting that sanction and certifying a class action were upheld by a unanimous panel of the Georgia Court of Appeals. Resource Life paid $47,750,000 into a Settlement Fund to settle the case. The Settlement provides that Settlement Class Members have the opportunity to receive the unearned credit insurance premiums they are owed by Resource Life.

Class action

Pierce v. Universal Underwriters

Jan 01, 2008

OUTCOME: $49 million cash settlement

Butler, Wooten & Fryhofer, LLP, served as co-class counsel with Samuel W. Oates of Oates & Courville in Columbus in a class action settlement which was preliminarily approved by Judge Doug Pullen on Ma ... rch 14, 2008. Pierce v. Universal Underwriters had been certified as a class action on March 5, 2007. Most such settlements in the past have been on a "claims made" approach. Class counsel conceived a different approach calculated to identify and locate more insureds due refunds. UULIC has agreed to create a database of information about potential class members who may be entitled to unearned premium refunds due to early termination. That database will then be turned over to class counsel and to Rust Consulting, a national settlement administration firm, which will act as settlement administrator. UULIC will pay $49 million into an interest-bearing trust fund to be used to pay refunds due to all class members who can be located, costs of administration, and attorney fees (which will be set by the court). Class counsel and Rust consulting will then use lender contacts and credit reporting agency analysis to determine the loan termination dates for all insureds within the applicable states' statutes of limitation, and determine thereby which insureds are due refunds as a result of early termination, obtain updated addresses for such insureds, and issue refunds. All funds remaining will be placed in a remainder fund, to be donated to appropriate charitable institutions as decided by a remainder fund committee appointed by the court. The settlement will be administered by the court and class counsel.

Trucking accident

Plaintiffs v. Orica USA, Inc.

Jan 01, 2008

OUTCOME: $5 million settlement

On August 21, 2006, a 24 year-old lady was turning left into a private driveway on a rural North Georgia highway. As Plaintiff was making her turn, an Orica tanker truck attempted to pass her. Because ... the Orica truck was speeding, it was unable to avoid a collision and struck Plaintiff's car broadside resulting in her death. The firm was able to establish the speed of the tanker truck by analyzing the truck's "black box" which proved key to establishing the fault of the Orica driver and absolving Plaintiff of any negligence.

Class action

Toole v. JMIC

N/A

OUTCOME: $45 million cash settlement

Butler Wooten & Fryhofer served as co-class counsel with Samuel W. Oates, Jr. of Oates & Courville in Columbus in a class action settlement which was preliminarily approved by Judge Doug Pullen. Most s ... uch settlements in the past have been on a "claims made" approach. Class counsel conceived a different approach calculated to identify and locate more insureds due refunds and locate them. JMIC has agreed and been ordered to create a database of information about potential class members who may be entitled to unearned premium refunds due to early termination. That database will then be turned over to class counsel and to Rust Consulting, a national settlement administration firm, which will act as Settlement Administrator. JMIC will pay $45 million into an interest-bearing trust fund to be used to pay refunds due to all class members who can be located, costs of administration, and attorney fees (which will be set by the court). class counsel and Rust Consulting will then use lender contacts and credit reporting agency analysis to determine the loan termination dates for all insureds within the applicable states' statutes of limitation, and determine thereby which insureds are due refunds as a result of early termination, obtain updated addresses for such insureds, and issue refunds. All funds remaining will be placed in a remainder fund, to be donated to appropriate charitable institutions as decided by a remainder fund committee appointed by the court. The settlement will be administered by the court and class counsel.

John Coleman Morrison III's Legal Cases (6)

Cohan v. KPMG

Humphrey v Brilansie et al

Buckner v. Resource Life

Pierce v. Universal Underwriters

Plaintiffs v. Orica USA, Inc.

Toole v. JMIC