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 April 2006 - LAM APPEAL DECISION

Court of Appeal Affirms Multi-Million Dollar Judgment in Favor of Bergeson, LLP Client.

In 2003, John (Jay) Fowler and Marc van Niekerk obtained a $13.5 million judgment for Bergeson, LLP client Lam Research Corporation against Dallas Semiconductor Corporation in a breach of contract case. This was one of the largest verdicts ever in a commercial code case in the Silicon Valley. The case, tried to a Santa Clara County jury, was filed after Dallas refused to accept the first two installments of a $20 million contract for semiconductor fabrication equipment and related services. The verdict was for Lam's lost profits under section 2708(2) of the California Commercial Code. The Bergeson team overcame the defendant's claim that there was no contract because the documents exchanged by the parties had boilerplate terms which did not agree. The jury accepted Lam's evidence that the contracts were formed by conduct under section 2207(3) of the Code.
On appeal, Dallas argued that there were no binding contracts and that the court's instructions to the jury regarding contract formation pursuant to sections 2204 and 2207 of the Commercial Code were erroneous. Dallas also argued that the evidence did not support the court's instructions on an installment contract. Finally, Dallas argued that the trial court erred in finding as a matter of law that Lam was a lost volume seller within the meaning of cases interpreting and applying section 2708(2) of the Commercial Code.
On April 17, 2006, the Sixth Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal rejected Dallas' contentions and affirmed the trial court judgment. In its ruling, the Court of Appeal found there was substantial evidence supporting the court's instructions to the jury and the court's ruling that Lam was a lost volume seller.
 
 
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