Discovery was moving ahead in the breach of contract case that Chicago’s Valorem Law Group was defending for RF Surgical Systems, Inc., and Valorem partner Patrick Lamb seemed to have his work cut out. RF Surgical, which makes high-tech sponges and cotton designed for foolproof detection and removal after surgeries, had originally been sued by medical products distributor Medline Industries, Inc., in mid-2008. All told, Lamb figured he might have to depose at least a dozen Medline employees to get the facts he needed to fend off the breach of contract claim.
He started by deposing Medline’s CEO, which went far better than Lamb had expected. “We got great testimony,” recalls Lamb. Next, he turned to the head of the Medline division that oversaw the contract with RF Surgical and wound up getting even more revealing information. In fact, as Lamb recalls, the division head effectively conceded that he had mishandled the distribution agreement with RF Surgical.
