March 24, 2020–LOS ANGELES, CALIF. Skiermont Derby LLP today secured a significant victory on behalf of client Bryan Roberts, as the California Court of Appeal (Second District) reversed key portions of a trial court order denying an anti-SLAPP motion filed by Roberts against claims brought by former casino magnate Eric Swallow and Profitable Casino LLC. As a result of the Court of Appeal decision, Roberts was able to dismiss with prejudice multiple retaliatory claims asserted by Swallow and Profitable Casino.
Roberts, a software developer and technology professional, alleges that Swallow partnered with him to market and distribute an operating system developed by Roberts in California-based casinos. Swallow, who held ownership interests in various casino-related entities, allegedly licensed Roberts’s software without Roberts’s knowledge, earning well in excess of $10 million in the process. Roberts’s complaint asserts breach of partnership and fraud-based claims, seeking compensatory and punitive damages, among others.
This is the second appellate win by Skiermont Derby since the firm was brought into the case. Previously, Skiermont Derby secured the complete reversal of a trial court order dismissing Roberts’s complaint, ensuring that Roberts’s claims will proceed on the merits.
Roberts is represented by Skiermont Derby attorneys Paul B. Derby and Johnny O’Kane. The case is Roberts v. Swallow, pending in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. BC603331.