By Alana Roberts and Catherine Wilson
After a false start, a settlement was reached Tuesday in the $10 billion trade secrets dispute in Florida between Motorola and a defunct Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company.
The confidential agreement was reached hours after an earlier hearing to discuss a settlement was canceled because both sides hadn't come to terms, despite telling the judge they had.
Prominent litigator Willie Gary, representing the plaintiff, SPS Technologies, told the judge, "It's settled as far as we're concerned."
But Motorola wasn't as firm.
"We're still working out the written details," said company attorney Faith Gay. "We're not done yet."
Broward Circuit Judge Jeffery Streitfeld wasn't happy with the equivocation.
"This is not appropriate," the judge pronounced before abruptly declaring a recess.
Streitfeld convened a second hearing about 2 1/2 hours later after being told by both sides again that they had reached agreement.
Asked by the bailiff if everyone was ready to return to court, SPS attorney Manny Socias told him, "We've signed everything, and it was their document."
The attorneys refused comment on the contents.
Gay, a Quinn Emanuel partner in New York, would not say if a Securities and Exchange Commission filing is needed to notify shareholders of the settlement. SEC filings are required when publicly traded companies make significant financial decisions.
Motorola spokeswoman Paula Thornton Greear said the $37 billion company based in Schaumburg, Ill., "is pleased that the case has been settled" and offered no details.
Streitfeld had a jury pool of 50 ready to show up Tuesday for a retrial that was set to begin next Monday.
The judge offered his congratulations and borrowed a phrase from the movie "Evan Almighty" to call the agreement an "act of random kindness."
Gary's partner, C.K. Hoffler of Gary Williams Finney Lewis Watson & Sperando in Stuart, Fla., made the formal settlement announcement to the judge.
SPS alleged Motorola stole its idea for a satellite vehicle tracking device. The 2002 lawsuit has been a costly one in court for Motorola, which has been sanctioned twice for improper conduct.
A two-month trial ended in a deadlocked jury in 2006. Motorola was sanctioned for $23 million last year for willfully violating a court order following the trial and appealed the sanctions to Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal.
Streitfeld ruled in June that Motorola's repeated attempts to stay proceedings in the case pending appeal were "frivolous and filed in bad faith." No dollar amount was set.
Gary, who is normally talkative about his cases, said he couldn't talk about the settlement because "it's so confidential."
Asked if he would be having champagne in the evening, he said with a grin, "Yup. That I can tell you."
