Houston, Texas – Padua Law Firm, PLLC is pleased to announce a significant victory on behalf of its corporate counsel clients in a complex copyright infringement intellectual property case. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, presided over by Judge George C. Hanks, Jr., has granted in large part the defendants’ motion for attorney’s fees, awarding $500,000.00 to our clients and against Zelma Loeb and Loeb Architects, LLC.

The case, Zelma M. Loeb-Defever, et al. v. Strategic Construction, Ltd. d/b/a FCI Multi-Family, et al., involved frivolous allegations of copyright infringement and violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by multiple defendants that Padua Law represents as in-house counsel related to the design, development, and operation of a senior living facility, Woodhaven Village. The senior living architect plaintiffs, Zelma Loeb-Defever and her company, Loeb Architects, LLC, from the Dallas, Texas area -represented by Patrick Zummo and Micah Dortch -were engaged and fully paid to produce preliminary schematics for the subject project but were not selected to be the project architects due to a myriad of deficiencies and negligence found by the project sponsor’s consultants.  Nearly a decade later, these plaintiffs learned of the sale of the facility and came out of the woodwork to file claims of hundreds of millions of dollars in damages against her own client and a myriad of other defendants directly and indirectly related to the Subject Project. However, the Judge Hanks led Court, (subsequently unanimously affirmed by the Fifth Circuit), ruled in favor of the defendants on all claims via summary judgment.

In today’s ruling, Judge Hanks highlighted the objective unreasonableness of the plaintiffs’ claims, noting that they had sought damages for conduct that had previously been expressly licensed. The court also recognized that the plaintiffs’ actions in targeting 24 defendants with only tangential connections to the alleged infringement further justified an award of attorney’s fees. The court emphasized the need for such an award to deter similar frivolous and improperly motivated lawsuits in the future.

“This ruling is a testament to the importance of upholding the integrity of the legal process and helping ensure that parties are not burdened with the immense monetary costs and human resources required in defending against baseless claims,” said Sara Padua Cordua, Partner at Padua Law Firm, PLLC. “We are proud to have contributed to upholding justice in this matter with the assistance of the following outside counsel: lead attorney John Edmonds and Steve Schlather of Edmonds & Schlather PLLC and Jackson Walker’s Bob Latham and Jennifer Caughey and are pleased with the court’s decision to award substantial attorney’s fees. This case was particularly important, as it took years of hard work to obtain justice for our family’s senior living development companies. We feel vindicated.”

Real estate developer and principal, Antonio “Tony” Padua, agrees. “”Justice served. This ruling is a big win not just for us, but for anyone in the industry committed to diligently getting things done the right way. The court’s decision to award attorney’s fees after our successful defense sends a clear message: baseless claims won’t stop development for our communities. We’re here to build, not to play legal games. Huge thanks to our very own Padua Law Firm for cutting through the noise and standing up for what’s right.”

The case underscores the necessity for vigilance in the protection of legal rights while also highlighting the potential consequences of pursuing IP litigation without a sound basis. The award of attorney’s fees in this instance serves as a deterrent against the misuse of the legal system.

For more information, please contact: Padua Law Firm, PLLC
Phone: 713-840-1411 Email: sp@padualaw.com
Website: www.padualaw.com

About Padua Law Firm, PLLC
Padua Law Firm, PLLC is a Houston-based boutique law firm dedicated to providing high-quality legal services across a range of practice areas including real estate, intellectual property, business and other transactional and litigation matters. Our attorneys are committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for our clients through diligent representation and personalized service.

CASE INFORMATION
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Zelma M. Loeb-Defever, et al. v. Mako LLC d/b/a FCI Multi-Family, et al
USDC No. 4:20-CV-1981