MANNING CURTIS BRADSHAW & BEDNAR WINS ONE OF THE LARGEST JURY VERDICTS IN UT HISTORY

On March 1, 2014, a unanimous jury awarded $37,050,000 to MCBB’s client John T. Braun, M.D., one of the largest civil jury verdicts in Utah’s history. Dr. Braun, a renowned spine surgeon, invented a ground-breaking device to treat adolescent scoliosis, a progressive condition that affects roughly two to four percent of all children and often requires life-changing spinal fusion surgery to correct. Dr. Braun’s innovation provides a fusionless alternative that minimizes the disease’s impact on the growth, motion and function of the spine. 

Dr. Braun licensed the device to the spine division of Medtronic Inc., one of the world’s largest medical device makers. Following a two-week trial in United States District Court led by MCBB attorneys Chad Derum and Alan Bradshaw, the jury found that Medtronic fraudulently induced Dr. Braun to license the device to Medtronic and that Medtronic breached the parties’ subsequent contract in failing to commercialize the invention as promised.

The jury awarded Dr. Braun $25,000,050 for the fraud and breach of contract claims plus an additional $12,000,000 in punitive damages. On October 21, 2015, Judge Robert J. Shelby denied Medtronic’s post-trial motions to reverse the jury’s verdict.  On December 14, 2017 the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed Judge Shelby’s denial of Medtronic’s post-trial motions “in all respects”, thus upholding the jury’s entire award to Dr. Braun.