In its Civil Litigation Practice, Griggs & Adler, P.C., represents plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in all phases of civil litigation, including trials, appellate advocacy, and enforcement of judgments. Issues in recently litigated cases include personal injury, gender-based discrimination, damage to property, fraud, breach of contract, and veterinary malpractice. Griggs & Adler, P.C., manages its litigation case load in close consultation with its clients to ensure that the clients’ goals and objectives are achieved with maximum efficiency. Major expenditures are not undertaken without balancing the costs against the likely economic benefits. Strategy and tactics are tailored to meet the client’s objectives, and the client is kept fully apprised through constant contact.
Broad Experience
The Firm’s broad experience is illustrated by examples of the cases the Firm and its partners have tried.
Fraud.
In a case against a small business alleging fraud in its hiring process, Griggs & Adler successfully defended the employer, obtaining a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court of Virginia, Cohn v. Knowledge Connections, Inc.
Business Torts.
Representing a small, high-tech business in a jury trial for breach of contract and tortious interference with business relations, Mr. Griggs obtained a verdict in Federal district court awarding over $800,000, including $350,000 in punitive damages.
Breach of Contract.
Mr. Griggs and Ms. Adler obtained a judgment for $130,000 for breach of an asset sale agreement, including an award of attorney fees.
Civil Rights.
The Firm represented a woman farmer in a case against the Department of Agriculture for gender-based discrimination, and obtained a settlement worth over $240,000. The Firm represented an individual with disabilities in a case against a major department store brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Employment Law.
Mr. Griggs and Ms. Adler have represented plaintiffs and employers in several cases involving allegations of wrongful termination, breach of employment agreements, discrimination, and violation of employers’ human resources policies and procedures.
Animal Welfare.
In cases involving the death of pets, the Firm won a jury trial for veterinary malpractice and a nonjury trial against a pet grooming business.
Personal Injury.
The Firm represented a plaintiff injured in an automobile accident, and a plaintiff injured by use of a homeopathic medical product.
Appellate Practice.
At the appellate level, Mr. Griggs has argued cases before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth and D.C. Circuits, and an appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The Firm has filed a brief in the U. S. Supreme Court in the TAPS Quality Bank litigation.
In its Energy Practice, Griggs & Adler, P.C., provides representation before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in all areas of FERC practice, including oil pipelines, gas pipelines, electric utilities, hydroelectric power, qualified PURPA facilities and independent power producers. Appeals of final FERC orders to United States courts of appeals are part of the Firm’s FERC practice. Griggs & Adler typically seeks to obtain lower rates for utility services on behalf of shippers on common carrier pipelines and wholesale consumers of electric power and natural gas. In its FERC practice, the Firm provides different levels of intervention and participation, tailored to the client’s specific needs. Through analysis of the client’s particular interests, including the client’s budgetary constraints, specific objectives are identified and a strategy to achieve those objectives is developed. Options recommended may range from simple monitoring of FERC developments to full scale intervention in adjudicatory and rulemaking proceedings. Protests of rate filings and active intervention as a party are a common approach. The Firm is prepared to select expert witnesses in the fields of economics, engineering, and ratemaking, or to work with experts selected by the client. The Firm assists in the preparation of direct testimony and prepares the expert witness for cross-examination at hearings. The Firm also drafts discovery requests and responses, handles motions, and drafts prehearing and posthearing briefs.
Less active alternatives are also provided by the Firm. In rulemaking proceedings, comments on proposed rules are drafted and filed with the FERC. Monitoring of developments in proceedings that may be of interest to the client, with provision of periodic reports, is a typical service. This can be supplemented by direct intervention in specific adjudicatory and rulemaking proceedings at the client’s specific request. Low profile intervention is an option that allows receipt of all documents served in a case, while avoiding the expense of active participation with live witnesses.
In the oil pipeline field, Griggs & Adler, P. C., has represented shippers on the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) and the Williams Pipe Line system, two of the largest and most extensively litigated pipelines. Three separate TAPS Quality Bank cases have been fully litigated over an eighteen year period. The Quality Bank administers a system of payments and credits among TAPS shippers to account for differences in crude oil quality shipped in the pipeline. A trial that spanned nine months in 2002 and 2003 included ten parties and involved over $400 million in Quality Bank charges. Participation in the Quality Bank cases has produced millions of dollars in reductions of Quality Bank payments for the Firm’s clients. Another TAPS case, the TAPS Pumpability case, addressed transportation rate design issues and produced lower pipeline rates for the Firm’s clients. The Williams case involved a 30-day trial on market power issues under the Buckeye standard. Through participation in this case, Mr. Griggs and Ms. Adler obtained significantly reduced rates for their client. In all of these cases, the Firm achieved the clients’ goals while following the budgets set for each project.
In the electric utility field, Mr. Griggs has been lead counsel in cases covering the full spectrum of rate issues, including rate base, rate of return, allocation, rate design, tax issues, transmission rates, and formula rates. The Firm has achieved substantially lower wholesale rates for its electric utility clients. Two FERC electric cases in which Mr. Griggs participated included separate antitrust suits that were ultimately settled on terms favorable to his clients. Mr. Griggs has also handled cases at the state commission level involving municipal acquisition of street lighting and electric utility property, as well as rate design and cost allocation issues. The Firm’s partners have worked on hydroelectric licensing matters, and Mr. Griggs has written an article about the PURPA incentives for small power cogenerators and independent power producers: “Competitive Bidding and Independent Power Producers: Is Deregulation Coming to the Electric Utility Industry?” 9 Energy Law Journal 415 (1988).
In the gas pipeline field, Mr. Griggs participated in the Order No. 451 case that was reviewed in the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and he has participated in FERC hearings involving issues such as minimum bills, take-or-pay provisions and contract carriage for independent marketers of natural gas. In 1986 Mr. Griggs published an article discussing restructuring of the natural gas industry: “Restructuring the Natural Gas Industry: Order No. 436 and Other Regulatory Initiatives,” 7 Energy Law Journal 71 (1986).
Efforts now underway include the cutting edge issues of global warming, wind power, and other forms of renewable energy. Mr. Griggs has been active in reviewing projects associated with coal-fired power plants to demonstrate carbon capture technology, and he is currently involved with the review and assessment of offshore wind projects. Mr. Griggs recently published an article on the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: “BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spil,” 32 Energy Law Journal 57 (2011).
Mr. Griggs served in the General Counsel’s Office of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the late 1970s, where he drafted Commission opinions in licensing matters and participated in litigation brought by a leading environmental group challenging the NRC’s decisions on nuclear waste handling, storage and disposal, and uranium mining and milling.
Representative clients for the Energy Practice include Cap Rock Energy Corporation, NewCorp Resources Electric Cooperative, Inc., OXY USA Inc., Chevron, Conoco, Inc. (now Conoco-Phillips), Unocal, and Hilcorp Alaska, LLC.
In its Commercial Real Estate Practice, Griggs & Adler, P.C., negotiates and drafts leases on behalf of the landlord, supervises property management, represents the landlord to tenants and prospective tenants, and undertakes lease enforcement, including termination and eviction. In representing tenants, Griggs & Adler, P.C., negotiates leases, analyzes prospective lease terms and conditions, and takes appropriate legal action to protect the tenant’s interests.
Among the Firm’s commercial leasing clients are the owners of an eleven story commercial office building in downtown Washington, D.C., and a five-story office building in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Griggs & Adler, P.C., advises the owners on all legal matters affecting the buildings, and executes documents on the owners’ behalf under a power-of-attorney. Griggs & Adler, P.C., negotiates and executes on behalf of the landlord leases, amendments to leases, assignments, sublease agreements, insurance contracts, building management and leasing contracts, and similar documents. As the need arises, Griggs & Adler, P.C., issues notices to quit and initiates summary eviction proceedings in landlord-tenant court. Over the past two years, the Firm has obtained judgments for possession ordering eviction for two clients, and has obtained two large money judgments against defaulting tenants.
Landlord tenant clients also include tenants for whom Griggs & Adler, P.C., reviews and analyzes letters of intent, negotiates lease terms, and reviews and comments upon lease terms prepared by the landlord. The Firm assists its tenant clients in negotiating favorable lease terms, extensions and renewals of leases, or, should the need arise, early termination.
Mr. Griggs’ background in construction contract litigation is extremely helpful to the Firm’s landlord tenant practice. Leasing negotiations often involve issues concerning tenant improvements, and familiarity with construction contract law, enforcement of mechanics liens, and experience working with architects’ and engineers’ contracts, plans and specifications is useful. Mr. Griggs also acquired experience in real estate issues in work he performed for the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management in the early phase of his career. Ms. Adler’s real estate experience has included deed review and preparation services for a Firm client, and lease negotiations on behalf of commercial tenants.
Representative clients include the Foundation of International Food Industry Suppliers, Live Oak Realty, Inc., the 2145 Partnership, Sunrise Valley Schools, Inc., and Tycon One, Inc.
