Cuban, 55, owns the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks, the high-definition television network HDNet and the Landmark Theatre chain.
The former contestant on “Dancing With the Stars” is a regular on TV’s investor-themed program “Shark Tank.” In 1999, he sold Broadcast.com, a multimedia Web service he founded, to Yahoo! Inc. for $4.7 billion.
He sold his stake in Mamma.com, now Copernic Inc., for $7.9 million. At trial, Cuban said the PIPE plan was known before he cashed out.
His legal team was led by Thomas Melsheimer, a partner at Boston-based Fish & Richardson PC, a firm chiefly known for its intellectual property law practice. Melsheimer, a Texas lawyer since 1986, said this was his first securities trial.
“I was not brought into this case because of my intimate knowledge of securities law,” he said in a phone interview today, while acknowledging that other attorneys on the defense team had securities experience. “I was brought in because I knew how to try a case in Dallas, Texas.”
He’s also been Cuban’s litigator since 2000, he said.
Live Testimony
Melsheimer said the trial win was attributable in part to Cuban’s live testimony and the Faure video.
“Mark’s testimony was by far the most important aspect of the case,” he said. “The SEC knew it. That’s why they called him in their case.”
Cuban, who is known for his courtside presence at Mavericks games and who has been repeatedly fined for criticizing NBA officials, may have defied juror expectations by being cool, calm and funny as a witness, Melsheimer said.