© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(Aug. 22) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Monday that Yahoo owes Dallas-based prize promoter SCA Promotions $5.5 million for backing out of a deal designed to pay $1 billion to anyone who successfully predicted the winner of all 63 games in the 2014 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
SCA, represented by Dallas trial lawyer Jeff Tillotson, sued Yahoo for breach of contract. Yahoo countered that SCA violated the contract by publicly revealing confidential information. The federal district court ruled for Yahoo and ordered SCA to repay $550,000.
“Any information that SCA disclosed to Berkshire Hathaway was not confidential information,” Circuit Judge Edith Brown Clement wrote for a three-judge panel.
The Fifth Circuit panel ordered Yahoo to pay SCA the $4.4 million it still owes SCA and ordered the federal judge to determine how much of SCA’s legal fees that Yahoo should be required to pay.
Winston & Strawn is representing Yahoo.
Tillotson also represented SCA in its successful battle against disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong,
“We pursued Lance for 10 years to get our money and we only had to pursue Yahoo for three years to get our money,” says Tillotonson, who is now in trial in California representing DIRECTV. “The main point in this case is that specific provisions of a contract take control over general provisions.”
Tillotson deposed Warren Buffett and former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.
“Mr. Buffett was absolutely charming,” Tillotson says. “We took the deposition at his office in Nebraska and he has a surprisingly small staff working with him for being such a wealthy and powerful person. He likes to keep it simple. I was impressed with just how pleasant and nice he is.”
If any contestant actually predicted all the games correctly going into the Final Four, Mr. Buffett said that he planned to offer that person $100 million in guaranteed cash right them, as a form of hedging his bet, Tillotson said.
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