A Fulton County jury has slammed Alpharetta-based Chemence with a $58 million verdict in favor of Dr. James Quinn, a Stanford professor, ending a legal brawl that has dragged on for more than a decade. What started as consulting work spiraled into trade-secret accusations and culminated in Quinn’s arrest during a 2014 deposition at Chemence’s Alpharetta headquarters.
The jury’s award includes $12 million in compensatory damages, around $5 million in attorney fees and litigation costs, and a hefty $41 million in punitive damages intended to punish Chemence and its leadership. Jurors found that Chemence and three executives — President and CEO Hugh Cooke, Vice President Peter Battisti and CFO/General Counsel Robert Wilson — subjected Quinn to years of baseless litigation and engineered his 2014 deposition arrest. Quinn’s lead attorney, Steve Lowry, said the doctor “feels vindicated,” while the company stayed silent and did not respond to requests for comment, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Federal Win Set the Stage
This is not Quinn’s first courtroom victory in the dispute. He previously won in federal court, where a jury awarded him roughly $8.6 million. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit later upheld key parts of that win on appeal. That federal case, along with the criminal fallout from the 2014 deposition arrest, set the factual foundation for Quinn’s state-court claims for malicious arrest and related damages. The long procedural backstory is detailed in appellate records at Justia.
Company Footprint in Alpharetta
Chemence manufactures polymerizable adhesives and specialty materials and maintains corporate offices near Atlanta as well as overseas. In 2021, the company opened a research and development facility in Alpharetta, according to PR Newswire. State business records list Chemence’s principal office in Alpharetta, reinforcing its local base of operations, as shown in filings with the Georgia Secretary of State.
Legal Fallout and Next Steps…