Austin, TX commercial litigation attorney Walter V. Williams shares the story of a memorable business litigation matter he handled. He recalls his most memorable case taking place in the wake of the dot-com bust in the early 2000s. At the time, he represented a contractor who had made improvements to a downtown building. Although they’d obtained a judgment, the building owner couldn’t afford to pay. He knew both the owner and the owner’s attorney well, and soon discovered that the problem stemmed from one of their tenants—who had failed to pay rent after the owner had constructed a 40,000-square-foot addition atop a parking garage specifically for that tenant.

Recognizing an opportunity, he arranged for his client to take an assignment of the owner’s claim against the tenant. They pursued the case at trial and won an $11 million verdict, including $5 million in punitive damages, along with full recovery of attorney’s fees. The victory not only vindicated his client but also opened the door to representing numerous other landlords across the country—roughly twenty to thirty of them—who had suffered the same kind of mistreatment from that same tenant in other lease agreements.