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Jeffrey P. Downer and Jennifer R. Porto won a defense jury verdict in Newman v. Costco Wholesale Corp., a two-week personal-injury case. Plaintiff alleged that she slipped and fell on a very large fabric softener spill. Costco denied liability and established on cross-examination of plaintiff's own witnesses that the spill was fresh and had no tracks through it. Jeff and Jennifer offered testimony regarding “door counts” that showed that if the spill were present for any significant length of time, patrons and carts would have caused tracks through the spill. They also presented a large volume of evidence that plaintiff was not a credible witness, including testimony that plaintiff had another personal injury case pending, but failed to disclose it; she withheld information about other, similar injuries; she failed to file tax returns for several years, and the ones she did produce conflicted with those filed with the IRS. Plaintiff’s settlement demand before trial was $614,942, and her lawyer asked the jury to award almost $440,000. After less than an hour of deliberation, the jury returned a defense verdict, 11 to 1, in Costco’s favor.

Jennifer Porto was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States on June 1, 2009. Ms. Porto took the oath of admission in open court. The Chief Justice of the United States, John G. Roberts, Jr., swore her in. She is now a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and an officer of the Court.

Gauri Shrotriya Locker won a motion to dismiss in Paulson v. Feldman, a legal-malpractice action against a public defender. The court held that plaintiff’s improper service of process did not toll the applicable statute of limitations and that as a matter of law his requested relief, dismissal of the criminal charges, could not be awarded.

Sam B. Franklin and Gauri Locker won summary judgment in Elzey v. Strout, a legal-malpractice action. Defendants represented plaintiff’s ex-wife in an action to recover marital assets. After winning a judgment of more than $1.8 million, defendants took action to collect it. Plaintiff then sued defendants, alleging that they breached duties owed to him, even though he was the adverse party. The court agreed with Sam and Gauri that no such duties were owed and dismissed plaintiff’s claims.

Sam Franklin and Rosemary J. Moore successfully defended an appeal from the summary judgment of dismissal awarded in Martin v. Ellis. Martin claimed that the estate administrator had breached her fiduciary duty to the estate beneficiaries. The Superior Court dismissed Martin’s case and awarded attorney fees to the defendant. The Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal, holding that Martin’s claim was precluded by res judicata, and affirmed the award of attorney fees against the plaintiff and his counsel.