The Bay Guardian and the chain that owns SF Weekly have reached a settlement that ends an eight-year legal battle.
The parties have settled their differences on mutually acceptable terms.
You can read about the trial court verdict here, and some of the post-trial issues here, and our victory at the Court of Appeals here and here and the Supreme Court decision upholding our verdict here.
Specific terms of the settlement are confidential, as is often the case in business-related litigation.
Guardian Editor and Publisher Bruce B. Brugmann said the Guardian’s string of victories at the trial court, the Appeals Court and the Supreme Court “provide a model for protecting other small, independent businesses facing predatory pricing schemes from competitors.”
The Guardian’s legal team toiled for more than six years to bring this case to trial, to preserve the trial result on appeal, and to attempt to enforce the judgment and negotiate the settlement. Ralph Alldredge, Richard P. Hill and E. Craig Moody handled the trial. Joseph Hearst joined in for the appeals work. And Jay Adkisson took on the collections work.
Thanks, folks. You preserved a crucial state law, and you proved that persistence in the pursuit of justice is worthwhile. Small businesses in California will never forget it.