Fabyanske Secures $13.2 Million Arbitration Award

Category | News

Minneapolis, January 13, 2012 – In a victory for the Firm’s client, Marvin Fabyanske and Matthew Collins obtained a $13.2 million Arbitration Award on behalf of an ethanol plant in North Dakota. The client, a 130 million gallon annual producer, sought recovery for damages incurred as a result of a failed system to dry distillers grains, a co-product of ethanol production.

The arbitration proceeding commenced and co-chaired by Messrs. Fabyanske and Collins involved claims for breach of contract, breach of warranty, and negligent misrepresentation. The claims were made against a German manufacturer and supplier of drying technology that was represented by the largest law firm in the world.

The two week arbitration proceeding occurred after almost two years of pre-hearing litigation. Leading up to the hearing, Messrs. Fabyanske and Collins successfully defended against numerous pre-hearing discovery and dispositive motions filed by the German company and its lawyers seeking to dismiss the claims of the Firm’s client. Other activities involved in the case included an arbitration panel site visit to the ethanol plant, the filing of 100s of pages of written witness statements, the presentation of direct and cross examination testimony of 24 fact witnesses and nine expert witnesses, and management of a one million document database.

Kyle Newman, CEO of the Firm’s client, had this to say:

“Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson, P.A. (FWHT) provided a sense of
calmness to our company when we faced a litigation challenge that was
unfamiliar to us. I was extremely impressed with the intelligence, experience
and value that FWHT delivered. I highly recommend the talented professionals
at FWHT and trust that you will be more than satisfied with the results FWHT
will deliver.”