MONTGOMERY, ALA. (March 22, 2011) – A Charleston County, South Carolina, jury awarded $1,189,408 to Plaintiff Clifford Hansen after determining he had been unfairly excluded in a business purchase that he had personally developed. The jury held defendant, Beechwood Development Group of South Carolina, LLC, accountable for the investment Mr. Hansen made in developing plans to purchase Hickory Springs Water Company, which bottles and distributes drinking water for retail and wholesale customers. The defendants eventually purchased the business and assets of the company to the exclusion of the plaintiff.
Beasley Allen represented the Plaintiff. We presented evidence that Mr. Hansen invested considerable time and money in the development of the planned purchase, including performing due diligence and paying engineers for hydrology studies of the natural springs used by the bottled water facility. Then, we showed the jury that the defendants wrongfully converted and retained crucial information provided by or prepared based on information from Mr. Hansen in order to acquire Hickory Springs Water Company and its assets without including him.
Clifford Hansen was raised in two water bottling businesses that his father managed, instilling in him a dream of owning his own water company one day. This aspiration was shared with his father, whose life was cut short by cancer. Unfortunately, Clifford’s dream was taken from him by unscrupulous businessmen who exploited his dedication and hard work to acquire the water company, leaving him out of the deal. Thankfully, after more than seven hours of deliberation, the Charleston County jury recognized this injustice and did not let it go unpunished. While Clifford may not have realized his dream, he has found some sense of vindication.
This case was tried in the Court of Common Pleas for the 9th Judicial Circuit, State of South Carolina, County of Charleston. Case name Clifford Hansen v. Fields Company, LLC; Beechwood Advisory Group, Inc.; Beechwood Development Group of South Carolina, LLC and Beechwood Development Group, Inc. Case number 09-CP-10-3333.