"The entire Litigation team provides outstanding legal services."
Client quote, Chambers USA
Overview
Calfee’s Commercial Litigation Lawyers: Meeting Business Needs With Practical Solutions
Commercial disputes can interrupt operations, strain business relationships, and create financial and reputational risk. Calfee’s Business, Corporate, and Commercial Litigation attorneys work with public and privately held enterprises on a diverse range of business needs, responding with clear strategy and strong advocacy. Our attorneys have extensive experience in financial litigation, including banking, lender liability, and credit disputes. They counsel clients on issues and disputes arising out of the purchase or sale of a business, contracts, and the Uniform Commercial Code.
Our business litigation attorneys have prosecuted and defended numerous trade secret actions and matters involving non-compete covenants. They also have defended claims of business defamation and disparagement, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation.
Our Business Litigation Attorneys’ Services
Calfee’s commercial litigation lawyers handle a wide range of business, corporate, and financial disputes, assisting clients with:
- Contractual disputes: We represent clients in disputes involving all types of business contracts, including commercial agreements, supply contracts, service agreements, distribution arrangements, and purchase agreements. We handle breach-of-contract claims, interpretation disputes, termination rights, specific performance, and damages.
- Business sale or purchase disputes: Calfee represents buyers, sellers, investors, and owners in transaction-related litigation. We handle disputes involving share and asset purchase agreements, earnouts, post-closing obligations, delayed or failed closings, misrepresentation, and fraud claims.
- Partnership issues, disputes, and dissolutions: Business ownership disputes can affect management, valuation, and long-term stability. We represent clients in matters involving shareholder rights, minority ownership interests, fiduciary duties, derivative claims, partnership disputes, and family-owned business conflicts.
- Protect trade secrets and confidential business information: We prosecute and defend claims involving the misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential business information under state and federal law, including the Defend Trade Secrets Act. This includes software disputes and emergency injunctive relief.
- Enforce and contest non-compete covenants: Our attorneys represent businesses and individuals in disputes involving non-compete, non-solicitation, confidentiality, and other restrictive covenant agreements. We help clients enforce covenants, defend against overbroad restrictions, and seek or oppose injunctions.
- Business defamation, disparagement, and unfair competition: Calfee prosecutes and defends claims involving business conduct, competition, and reputation.
- Fraud and negligent misrepresentation: We handle claims for fraud and negligent misrepresentation in a variety of business contexts.
- Tortious interference with business relations: Our team handles claims for tortious interference with business relationships, civil conspiracy, conversion, and other business torts.
- Financial litigation, including banking, lender liability, and credit disputes: Calfee has extensive experience in financial litigation. Our services include litigation involving banking disputes, lender liability claims, credit disputes, loan defaults, and secured lending disputes, including replevin and collateral recovery.
- Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) issues: We represent clients in disputes governed by the UCC, including sales, leases, negotiable instruments, and secured transactions.
- Bankruptcy-Related Litigation: Our litigation team also handles bankruptcy-related disputes for creditors, debtors, and other stakeholders.
- Adversary proceedings and appeals
- Preference litigation
- Dischargeability litigation
- Bad faith and relief from stay motions
- Claims litigation and appeals
- Lien determination and priority proceedings
- Proceedings to sell estate property
Trial and Appellate Capabilities
Calfee’s business litigation team represents clients in trial courts, appellate courts, arbitration proceedings, and other dispute forums. We prepare matters with both trial strategy and appellate preservation in mind.
Our commercial litigation attorneys have handled matters involving:
- Summary judgment motions
- Jury trial preparation
- Arbitration proceedings
- Appeals from trial court judgments
- Proceedings before intermediate appellate courts and state supreme courts
When a matter reaches appeal, we work to protect favorable results, challenge adverse rulings, and frame issues clearly for appellate review.
Noteworthy
Chambers USA Leading Law Firm Rankings
Since 2005, Calfee has been recognized by Chambers USA as a Leading Law Firm in Litigation: General Commercial, most recently in Band 2 in Ohio (2026).
Clients interviewed by Chambers USA researchers commented, "They're savvy, quick to adapt, and put people at ease in complex commercial litigation. The team is exceptionally responsive and provides outstanding legal services. We're very pleased with the firm's breadth of expertise and ability to bring together the right people. They are a good balance of practical and strategic. They do a very good job on the technical and practical elements. It's an excellent firm."
Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” Rankings
Calfee was selected for inclusion in the 2026 "Best Law Firms" rankings in Commercial Litigation (National Tier 2, Regional Tier 1 Cleveland, Regional Tier 2 Cincinnati, Regional Tier 1 Columbus).
Benchmark Litigation Rankings
Calfee was selected for inclusion by Benchmark Litigation 2026 as a Highly Recommended Law Firm in Dispute Resolution in Ohio. Additionally, 15 of Calfee's Litigation partners have been ranked by Benchmark Litigation as "Litigation Stars" in the U.S. (National), Midwest, and Ohio and as “40 & Under" and "Future Stars" Honorees.
Professionals
Professionals
Experience
Experience
- Serve as defense counsel to a Fortune 1000 insurance company client in a case involving a putative class that is challenging the client's practices in connection with value-based care healthcare claims from medical providers as well as important and rather unique issues relating to whether ERISA pre-empts the Plaintiffs’ state law claims for breach of contract, fraud and Ohio's statutory Deceptive Trade Practices Act. (2025)
- Represent a national real estate investment company client in a commercial lease dispute, obtaining a multimillion-dollar judgment on behalf of our client, which was affirmed on appeal. (2025)
- Represented a publicly traded, Fortune 500 manufacturing company client in a dispute with a supplier regarding the termination of a letter of intent for long-term supply of finished goods, including breach of contract threats.
- Served as lead counsel to all defendants in an action involving the sale of commercial property by Calfee's client. The plaintiff asserted claims for breach of the purchase agreement, promissory estoppel, unjust enrichment, civil liability for criminal conduct, conversion, fraud, and piercing the corporate veil. Calfee obtained summary judgment on all non-contract claims, which was affirmed on appeal. The parties reached a confidential settlement within a month of the scheduled jury trial.
- Served as litigation counsel for our client, an economic development organization in proceedings in three separate courts (trial court, intermediate appellate court, and a state supreme court) in a lawsuit filed against the client by a real estate development company alleging the client breached their contract by failing to pay a multimillion dollar fee the plaintiff contended was owed as a result of a real estate-related contract dispute.
- Serving as litigation counsel to its client, the seller of a privately owned business and certain real property. The buyer delayed closing and then twice failed to close the transactions. The client initiated a lawsuit alleging breach of the Share and Purchase Agreement and the Real Estate Purchase and Sale Agreement and they sought specific performance to force the closing of the transaction or damages in the form of diminution in value of the business and real estate. After the parties reached a settlement to close the transactions, the buyer again breached its obligations to close, and the Court issued judgment against the buyer ordering buyer to close the transactions.
- Serving as lead counsel to the Plaintiffs, former sales representatives and insurance agency owners, in a lawsuit filed against an insurance company for whom the plaintiffs sold hundreds of millions of dollars of insurance products for several decades. As a result of the client announcing retirement and participation in a retirement program offered by the defendants, the defendant terminated the contracts in a manner that resulted in the plaintiffs forfeiting tens of millions of dollars owed to them in commissions. Plaintiffs initiated an action for declaratory judgment, breach of contract, and defamation against the insurance company. The insurance company counterclaimed for breach of contract, indemnification (in relation to a separate arbitration proceeding where an award was issued against the insurance company, not Plaintiffs), breach of contract (for alleged violations of post-termination non-compete and non-solicitation provisions), and alleged violations of the Defend Trade Secrets Act (purported misappropriation of trade secrets). Plaintiffs deny all liability for the counterclaims. Plaintiffs moved for partial judgment on the pleadings with respect to their breach of contract claims for the millions of dollars of commissions the insurance company improperly “forfeited” on the basis that the forfeiture provision in the parties’ contracts is an unenforceable penalty under Ohio law. The Court granted that motion, holding that the insurance company's forfeiture provision is an unenforceable penalty under Ohio law and that the company had no right to forfeit the millions of dollars of vested commissions owed to Plaintiffs. The remaining issue on Plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim is establishing damages, which will be tried to the jury. The rest of the claims and counterclaims remain pending before the Court.
- Prosecuting fraud, civil conspiracy, fiduciary duty, derivative claim, promissory estoppel and unjust enrichment causes of action against the Defendants on behalf of our client, a multi-state and multinational holding company in a case that involves the interplay, factually and legally, between private company ownership rights, minority interests, private equity, management issues, business judgment decisions, related party transactions, self-dealing, and similar topics.
- Serving as lead litigation counsel in a case in which the Plaintiffs and Defendants jointly own (or owned) and manage (or managed) a private company that is actively engaged in ground-breaking and important scientific and intellectual property-based research and fundraising. Calfee represents two former owners and officers and a separate and distinct but related nonprofit, all of whom have been victimized and mistreated by the Defendant company’s and its current management personnel’s alleged intentional and negligent misconduct and poor decisions. This case involves the interplay, factually and legally, between private company ownership rights, stock options, management issues, business judgment decisions, related party transactions, and similar topics. There are also issues relating to fundraising in the public and private sphere and management’s responsibility for candor and transparency in that regard.
- Representing an Asian consumer electronics company in a shareholder derivative action. Calfee is developing and implementing the defense strategies with co-counsel, interfacing with the court where this action was filed and the court to which the action was removed, and together with co-counsel, is drafting, editing, and providing comments on case filings, and also providing comprehensive representation to the clients.
- Served as lead litigation counsel for one of the nation’s premier retirement systems. The client issued an RFP for the administration of its Medicare and non-Medicare healthcare benefits plans beginning January 1, 2024. After a thorough evaluation of the applicants, the client selected a healthcare services provider as a single provider for both the Medicare and non-Medicare benefits. An unrelated private health insurer challenged the selection process and filed a TRO to prevent the client from executing the contract with the selected provider and from proceeding with the selected provider as a single provider of medical benefits for the over 110,000 retirees. The unrelated private health insurer’s main arguments were that the client did not follow the state’s public procurement statutes and that the client violated the RFP in numerous ways, including, but not limited to, relying on unannounced criteria, communicating directly with applicants outside the RFP process, ignoring certain federal standards pertaining to the administration of Medicare plans, and by rejecting the recommendation of a third-party hired to assist the client with the RFP process. Because of the TRO, and because the client had limited time to complete contract negotiations before the January 1, 2024 go-live date, the case was set on an expedited track. The Court granted our client’s motion for summary judgment. Shortly thereafter, the unrelated private health insurer filed an appeal; however, before their appellate brief was due, the party dismissed the appeal. It was a complete victory for Calfee’s client.
- Serving as lead litigation counsel to two former owners/officers as well as a separate and distinct but related neuroscience-focused nonprofit organizations on the West Coast in a matter involving the plaintiffs and defendants who jointly owned (or own) and managed (or manage) a neuroscience-focused private company in the Midwest that is actively engaged in ground-breaking and important scientific and intellectual property-based research and fundraising. Calfee’s clients allege that they have been victimized and mistreated by the Defendant company and its current management personnel and have been negatively impacted by intentional and negligent misconduct and poor decisions, which misconduct has harmed Plaintiffs directly, as well as the Midwestern Neuroscience company.
- Representing an independent equipment finance and secured lender in litigation pending in Common Pleas Court and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the client’s efforts to gain possession of multiple aircraft and aircraft engines in connection with a loan default. The action has involved prosecuting the client’s complaint and motion for replevin, as well as claims by other lenders. This action implicates international treaties and federal law regarding the priority of security interests in aircraft and engines, which has required presenting multiple complex legal theories to state and federal courts.
- Calfee client, a software manufacturer, brought an arbitration before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) for breach of contract, trade secret misappropriation, tortious interference, and unjust enrichment, arising from a terminated distribution contract with a customer. This private arbitration matter involves challenging and novel damages theories related to the misappropriation of software.
- Representing a mutual health insurance company in several litigation matters, specifically: (1) a class action lawsuit challenging the client's practices in connection with "value-based contracting" with medical providers; (2) a class action lawsuit challenging the client's practices also in connection with "value-based contracting" by medical providers but with a larger putative class; (3) an action alleging the breach of our client's agreements with two national insurance providers.
- Served as lead litigation counsel to our pharmaceutical company client as part of the National Opioid Litigation brought by virtually every state and municipality in the country. It is the largest or one of the largest tort cases in U.S. history. The Attorney General of Ohio sued opioid manufacturers, including Calfee’s client and its related entities for damages arising out of the marketing, sales, and distribution of opioid-related products. This matter is part of an industry-wide litigation against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and medical professionals brought by states and municipalities across the country, claiming that the opioid industry misled the public about the dangers of opioid addiction.
- Serving as lead counsel to a global chemical company assisting the client in all aspects of a cyberattack matter. Among other things, Calfee assisted the company in investigating the source of the cyberattack and in obtaining insurance coverage relating to the attack. Calfee has also been retained to defend the company with regard to losses arising from the cyberattack and the network outage. Calfee has also been retained by the insurer to pursue subrogation claims against the company whose negligent conduct caused the cyberattack.
- Served as lead litigation counsel to a publicly traded, Fortune 500, multi-billion-dollar chemical company. Calfee’s client acquired a business unit from a competitor and assumed responsibility for its litigation with a private chemical company. The litigation involved a dispute over a plant closure and the resulting termination of a supply agreement for hydrochloric acid. The case presents unique questions of law relating to a company’s legal basis for avoiding contractual obligations due to a plant closure. The case also involves novel questions relating to the calculation of damages under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
- Serving as lead counsel to an American publicly traded, Fortune 1000, multinational company in a contract and trade secret dispute arising from a previous commercial relationship between the client and a manufacturer based in the Northwest U.S., involving one of the client’s products. The client filed a complaint against the defendant in United States District Court asserting claims for declaratory judgment and breach of implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. A few weeks later, the defendant filed its answer including counterclaims for breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets under state law. After discovery commenced, it became clear that the defendant had fraudulently induced and/or breached the contract in a myriad of respects resulting in the client amending its Complaint on two separate occasions to reflect the defendant’s wrongdoing.
- Serving as lead counsel to a national medication prescription services provider in a proposed class action against them for alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The plaintiff alleges wrongful telephone solicitation of the plaintiff and persons similarly situated in violation of the TCPA and in contravention of the National Do Not Call registry. The client vehemently denies the allegations as it has an extensive TCPA compliance program, and the client asserts that the specific plaintiff provided express consent to the phone solicitation, and therefore both the plaintiff’s claims and the attempted class action certification are meritless.
- Served as lead counsel in this “bet-the-company” case involving corporate and governance disputes between the Co-Trustees of a family trust that owns a manufacturing and distribution company. Calfee represents the Trustee and shareholder of the client company, who asserted claims for breach of fiduciary duty, declaratory judgment, and allegations of self-dealing against the Co-Trustee after more than a decade of unchecked malfeasance. The claims Calfee brought on behalf of its client sought court intervention to require the Co-Trustee to employ governance and compliance mechanisms to the Trust’s most significant asset, the family company. The defendant Co-Trustee asserted mirror counterclaims yet denied any obligation to employ standard corporate governance procedures to ensure the continued viability of the family owned company. Calfee’s role was to strategize and resolve the impasse as to corporate governance that would set the foundation for the future success of the company and the growth of the Trust assets.
- Serving as lead counsel in a litigation matter involving the prosecution, on behalf of the client, of fraud, civil conspiracy, fiduciary duty, derivative claim, promissory estoppel, and unjust enrichment against the Defendants.
Client Feedback
Client Feedback
- "The team is very prompt in giving updates and gives advice in practical terms." – Chambers USA 2025 client quote
- "I believe Calfee is very client-focused. The firm is practical, communicative and provides excellent value. " – Chambers USA 2025 client quote
- "I never question the Calfee team's ability to manage complex litigation." – Chambers USA 2025 client quote
- "The depth and breadth of Calfee's team is one of the firms most significant strengths." – Chambers USA 2025 client quote
- "Calfee is a trusted partner and we view the lawyers there as excellent." – Chambers USA 2025 client quote
- "The team is very responsive. It's an excellent firm."– Chambers USA 2023 client quote
- "We're very pleased with the firm's breadth of expertise and ability to bring together the right people. They are a good balance of practical and strategic." – Chambers USA 2023 client quote
- "The firm does a very good job on the technical and practical elements." – Chambers USA 2023 client quote
- "They're savvy, quick to adapt, and put people at ease in complex commercial litigation." – Chambers USA 2022 client quote
- "The team is exceptionally responsive." – Chambers USA 2022 client quote
- "Calfee litigators resolve issues efficiently with the proper balance of appropriate strength and effective negotiation." – Calfee client, as reported by U.S. News – Best Lawyers in “Best Law Firms” report
- "I've been very impressed with Calfee. They are always quite responsive and provide "business-ready" responses." – Calfee client, as reported by U.S. News – Best Lawyers in “Best Law Firms” report
- "Calfee, Halter & Griswold provides excellent litigation services. They are well-equipped to handle complex issues involving financial matters." – Calfee client, as reported by U.S. News – Best Lawyers in “Best Law Firms” report
- "Calfee, Halter & Griswold is my go-to law firm, in an emergency as well as for longer-term strategic planning. Jim Lang is a consummate professional, an excellent trial lawyer, and the state's best public utility regulatory lawyer. Their team always gets the job done quickly and efficiently and helps develop creative and effective strategies." – Calfee client, as reported by U.S. News – Best Lawyers in “Best Law Firms” report
- "I have had the opportunity to work with various members of Calfee, Halter & Griswold's Litigation team over the last several years. Regardless of matter size/complexity, Calfee has staffed the matters appropriately and provided responsive, business-focused advice. They provide support in the pre-litigation resolution of matters effectively and efficiently." – Calfee client, as reported by U.S. News – Best Lawyers in “Best Law Firms” report
- "Calfee, Halter & Griswold attorneys are extremely client focused. They are patient and engaged to make sure clients are fully heard, understand their options, and are part of the strategy." – Calfee client, as reported by U.S. News – Best Lawyers in “Best Law Firms” report
- "Calfee, Halter & Griswold has excellent lawyers who strive for practical solutions." – Calfee client, as reported by U.S. News – Best Lawyers in “Best Law Firms” report
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