Third Circuit Affirms Guidry's Attorney Fee Award


2 min read
Randy M. Guidry, a Durio, McGoffin, Stagg, and Ackermann partner has successfully maintained, in the Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit, a rare award of damages and attorneys fees to a plaintiff under the Unfair Trade Practices Act. Indest–Guidry, Ltd., v. Key Office Equipment, Inc., et al, No. 08-599, November 5th, 2008.

The attorney's fees were originally awarded in favor of Guidry's client, Indest-Guidry, Ltd. and against defendant Key Office Equipment and its President, Kenny Gregory, by the Honorable Keith Rayne Jules Comeaux, Judge of the 16th Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Martin. The fees were awarded in connection with damages for unfair trade practices, including fraud and conversion, arising from a complex sale and lease financing of several large commercial color printer copiers.

“Randy is one of the best young trial lawyers in this area,” according to Steven G. “Buzz” Durio. “His tenacious investigation and discovery exposed fraud and conversion, and his cross-examination made it undeniable”. The Third Circuit described defendants' testimony as “patent misrepresentations” which made it “difficult to suspend disbelief”.

The Third Circuit opinion is a refinement of the law of unfair trade practice to include transactions that might previously have been excluded by narrow precedents, especially in the Third Circuit, and reconciles the jurisprudence of the Third Circuit with other courts of appeal, especially the Second Circuit. The Third Circuit carefully distinguished its own earlier decision in Mixon v. Iberia Surgical, L.L.C.


Charlene Guidry of Indest-Guidry, Ltd. said, “I've learned through the years that just being right may not be enough – you also need a good lawyer. This was my first trial with Randy, but I've had a long relationship with the Durio firm, so I was not surprised”.

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