Since our founding in 1930 by U.S. Senator Millard E. Tydings, we have provided vigorous representation of plaintiffs and defendants in commercial and business litigation. Our attorneys are among the most experienced, accomplished litigators in the State of Maryland. We have won numerous trials in a wide variety of civil actions for clients of all sizes, throughout the mid-Atlantic and across the country.
While corporations entrust Tydings with large, complex cases, closely-held clients also turn to us for trenchant and responsive advocacy. Tydings is comfortable with almost any kind of commercial dispute, including complex cases such as antitrust and highly technical products liability matters. The firm is experienced in the following areas:
- Antitrust, Franchise, and Trade Regulation
- Appellate
- Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights
- Breach of Contract
- Business Torts
- Civil Rights
- Commercial Free Speech
- Contract Disputes
- Director and Officer Liability
- Employment and Discrimination
- ERISA and Employee Benefits
- Fiduciary Duty
- Financial Services
- Insurance Defense and Coverage
- Intentional Torts
- Joint Venture and Partnership
- Medical Malpractice
- Premises Liability
- Products Liability
- Professional Liability
- Punitive Damages
- Real Estate and Construction
- Securities
- Tax (state and local)
- Trademark, Trade Secret, and Copyright
Case Management and Staffing
We take pride in our proven ability to manage even the most complex and laborious cases with uncommon efficiency. Thanks to thoughtful delegation of resources, the experience of our partners, and the shrewd organization of pleadings, facts, and people, we have been successful in not only winning cases, but also reducing costs for clients.
Early in any complex litigation, we identify a team of lawyers, paralegals, and other staff who become familiar with the case and stay involved through its conclusion. This saves the client the costs of retraining and duplicating efforts.
We also assign each task to the professional level that can handle it most cost-effectively. While many tasks are thus handled by associates, paralegals, and clerical staff, the partner on the case oversees and remains accountable for the total performance of the firm.
Planning and Communication
Not every case calls for the same strategies and tactics. When the client decides that the stakes–in dollars, reputation, or precedent value–demand it, we push to the limit. When business strategies rule out extended litigation, we know how to achieve settlement quickly.
Once litigation goals are identified, we devise a strategy designed to meet them, a plan of defense, and a litigation budget. During the litigation, we communicate with the client regularly to report developments in the case, recommendations with respect to strategy, and budget status.
Trial-Oriented and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Mastery of the trial process, in whatever form and before whatever tribunal, is the key to successful litigation. Whether the forum is a courtroom or an administrative body, the challenge is essentially the same: to identify facts that support the client’s position, to resolve disputed facts in our favor, and to identify and apply existing doctrines of law–and to create new ones–that support our client’s position.
When appropriate, we consider alternative dispute resolution techniques, such as mediation, arbitration, and expedited case treatment, as ways to reach a quicker, less expensive solution.
Leadership
Tydings' attorneys serve in leadership roles within the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, the DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, and the Maryland Defense Counsel. Our lawyers are also members of the Maryland State Bar Association, the Bar Association of Baltimore City, the District of Columbia Bar, the Maryland Legal Mutual Insurance Society, and the Circuit Court for Baltimore City’s Mediation Program.
Representative Matters
- Procured the United States Supreme Court's review and reversal of the district court in Hughes v. Alexandria Scrap Corp., 426 U.S. 794
- Represented the State of Maryland as the receiver of an insolvent, state-chartered savings and loan in its trial that recovered on the institution’s officers’ and directors’ liability policy
- Defended IBM Corporation in an eight-week trial brought by the EEOC alleging employment discrimination
- Defended IBM Corporation in suit for alleged patent infringement
- Defended IBM Corporation in hundreds of suits in Maryland, D.C., Virginia, and West Virginia, alleging repetitive stress injuries from use of computers or supermarket scanners, all of which were either dismissed before trial or won on motion before trial
- Defended Mercedes Benz, USA in a series of antitrust cases that challenged the manufacturer’s parts distribution practices
- Represented a Fortune 100 company in sales and use tax litigation
- Defended Stroh Brewery Company in suit brought by former distributor
- Prosecuted a civil breach of ERISA fiduciary claims on behalf of pension plan against former plan trustees and of malpractice claims against former plan attorneys
- Represented one of the world’s largest pension funds in litigation involving ownership interests in a real estate portfolio valued in excess of one-half billion dollars
- Represented developers, contractors, and subcontractors in construction claims including contract claims, mechanic’s lien claims, Miller Act and Little Miller Act claims
- Represented plaintiffs in price-fixing cases relating to the real estate brokerage industry and the retail gasoline business
- Managed the trial of numerous consolidated products liability and mass tort cases in which punitive damages were at issue and multiple plaintiffs defendants were involved
- Managed multistate litigation involving the hiring, supervision, and direction of local counsel, devised and implemented litigation management systems, all within a budget
- On behalf of investors and minority shareholders, represented plaintiffs in numerous class actions in state and federal court, in cases that have established the leading authorities in this jurisdiction on securities fraud and the rights of minority shareholders during an insider takeover
- Represented a client in a matter that established that Maryland’s statute of repose applies to breach of contract claims
- Defended Tartan Farm's 1980 Preakness victory before the Maryland Racing Commission
- Represented clients in trials in various administrative courts, including the Maryland Tax Court
Representative Clients
We have represented or currently represent the following clients:
- 84 Lumber
- Advance Bank
- All Risks, Ltd.
- American Building Maintenance Industries, Inc.
- American Office Equipment Company
- AT&T Communications of Maryland, Inc.
- Atlantic Richfield Company
- CB Richard Ellis, Inc.
- Cloverland/Greenspring Farms Dairy, Inc.
- CVS of Maryland, Inc.
- Dryvit Systems, Inc.
- Fox Chevrolet LLC
- Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Inc.
- IBM Corporation
- M&T Bank
- McLane Company, Inc.
- Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc.
- Merck-Medco Managed Care, Inc.
- STO Corp.
- Sun Microsystems, Inc.
- Sunrise Senior Living, Inc.
- Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association
- Tobacco Technology, Inc.
- W.R. Grace & Company
- Wal-Mart, Inc.