QUIXTAR: Nitro: Case dismissed

Original Source

Nitro: Case dismissed
February 8th, 2008 @ 11:24 pm ET…

Happy to report to you that the Nitro case in Missouri has been dismissed by a federal judge.

The ruling itself is under seal at this point, so we can’t discuss or quote the specific findings and conclusions — at least, not yet.

But the fact that the case has been dismissed is a matter of public record. So we decided to share the news because this was one of those cases where the trial lawyers on the other side made sliming us publicly part of their legal strategy. It’s a terribly cynical approach, designed to intimidate the company and shake the confidence of our business owners.

No surprise that the losing trial lawyers were from Shughart Thomson & Kilroy — the same people who launched last year’s failed TEAM California lawsuit with a barrage of press releases and bluster, and then watched a judge dismiss that case as well. At this point, the firm’s credibility in speaking about our company matches their record of success in court.

We’re angry at the way they attempted to rattle our friends who are out there every night building Quixtar businesses. We’re pleased that the judge saw their case had no merit.

There was also a ruling this week in a separate case, known as Morrison, where an appeals court reversed and remanded an earlier lower court ruling. It’s the latest step in a long, long fight that we remain confident of winning. The ruling does not say that Morrison is right about any of his claims. It only says that he gets a do-over of the arbitration he lost in 2004.

And another important point: Contrary to some of the spinners out there, the ruling hinges on the fact that the dispute is so very old—beginning before 1998, before we even had an arbitration program. Therefore, the effect of this ruling on our current arbitration program and current cases (a shrinking list, given the Nitro dismissal) is virtually zero. If someone’s telling you otherwise, don’t buy the hype.