February 27, 2025
A Willkie team led by partners Alexander Cheney and Stuart Lombardi was recognized for a major arbitration victory in the Daily Journal’s “Top Verdicts of 2024,” an annual series highlighting the most significant verdicts and court decisions in California over the past year.
The cross-office team was honored for successfully representing plaintiff Oto Analytics Inc., also known as Womply, in a breach of contract arbitration case. Womply sought more than $100 million in unpaid feeds against Benworth Capital Partners LLC, while Benworth counterclaimed more than $420 million in damages. The Willkie team secured $117.9 million in damages, defeated the counterclaims and resolved more than half a billion dollars in dispute.
The high-stakes case was centered around the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a government initiative created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that guaranteed small business loans from private lenders. Womply, a PPP technology service provider, developed a program called PPP Fast Lane to assist sole proprietors in accessing these loans. Benworth used PPP Fast Lane to fund more than 300,000 PPP loans but failed to pay Womply all of the feeds Womply earned under the parties’ agreements.
“One of the biggest challenges was that both the PPP and Womply’s technology were unpredecented,” Alex told the Daily Journal.
In addition to Alex and Stuart, the Willkie team also included counsel Josh Levy, partner Tiffany Lin and associates Zoe Packman, Dan Morris, Katherine Hanley, Adriana Morton and Vincent Palmeri.
Read more about the Oto Analytics v. Benworth Capital Partners LLC outcome here.
View the Daily Journal’s “Top Verdicts of 2024” special report here. (Subscription required)
