Episode 37
January 23, 2025
Burning the “Trash Contract” and Winning $4.2M, with Gary Green
Episode Summary
When the software developer for Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana system decided to fire its minority-owned subcontractor after three years, it pointed to a provision in an old contract. Representing the subcontractor, Gary Green called the contract “trash.” Over and over, maybe 50 times.
“They’re going to come in here blowing smoke like crazy. And you have to remember two things,” Gary told the jury. “The trash contract and the smoke.”
In his visit with host Brendan Lupetin, Gary describes how he laid out the complex contract dispute with such clarity that jurors “got it.” They returned a $4.2 million verdict for his client.
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- Starting his career as a law clerk, Gary soon became a specialist in restrictive covenants that were entered into by bars that had cigarette machines.
- One of Gary’s first big cases was a class action Title VII for women programmers at a bank who were paid less than men for doing the same job.
- Gary was heavily influenced by Louis Nizer, who said, “This is the only competitive profession where somebody can come out of law school and go against the best.”
- In TreCom Systems Group, Inc. v. MJ Freeway, LLC, Gary represented TreCom, a Black-owned computer system installation company. When Pennsylvania adopted its medical marijuana system, MJ Freeway bid to be the state’s software provider. It hired TreCom as a subcontractor to improve its chances of winning the contract because the state awarded points to bidders with diverse subcontractors.
- But in the course of securing the bid, MJ Freeway submitted two contracts. After a few years of operating on one contract, MJ Freeway discovered how much it was paying TreCom and decided to fire the company. It leaned on one of the contracts to do so. TreCom sued for $4.2 million, the amount that MJ Freeway owed..
- Two main issues emerged: which contract was in force and whether there was any reason to breach the contract.
- When MJ Freeway’s CEO testified, Gary caught him in lies and told the jury: “You’re sitting here, and you can’t go to the bathroom when you want, and you can’t see your kids, and you can’t do your email and you, you’re just restrained. And this guy didn’t have the respect to come in and tell you the truth.”
- When the jury asked to see Gary’s exhibit about the amount owed, “I knew that was fine.”
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