The verdict is in, and Trust Company of the West (TCW [see profile]) has already been told to pay Jeff Gundlach and his co-defendants at DoubleLine [see profile] $66.7 million. Yet the results of the trial should both sides opportunities to claim victories.

To read the rest of the story of the fight between Gundlach and TCW, click here.

Barron's, Bloomberg, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Pensions & Investments, Reuters TheStreet and the Wall Street Journal all covered the verdict, which was issued this morning in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The suit and counter-suit (called a "cross-claim" in California) insisted of TCW accusing Gundlach and his colleagues of swiping trade secrets and breaching their fiduciary duty, and Gundlach claiming that TCW fired his group simply to avoid paying lots of performance fees, which were rising. TCW asked for more than $566 million in damages, and Gundlach asked for nearly $500 million.

In the end, the jury agreed that Gundlach breached his fiduciary duty, but not maliciously, so they gave TCW no money on that claim. The jury also agreed that the DoubleLine stole TCW trade secrets, and the judge will decide what to award TCW.

"We are gratified by the jury's verdict, which speaks directly to the principles at the heart of this case -- integrity, honesty and trust," stated Michael Cahill, general counsel at TCW. "The jury found that each of the defendants violated these principles -- that each one of them breached their fiduciary duties and stole trade secrets and that Jeffrey Gundlach wrongfully and intentionally interfered with TCW's business."

On the flip side, the seven men and five women of the jury also awarded $66.7 million to Gundlach and his colleagues for the unpaid wages claim.

"We are very pleased that the jury agreed with us that neither Jeffrey Gundlach nor any of our clients did anything that result in monetary harm to TCW," said Munger, Tolles & Olson's Brad Brian, who represented Gundlach and his colleageus. "We're also pleased that they awarded our clients the wages that were owed to them. We appreciate the hard work by the jury, the judge, and the judge's staff."

After the decision, Gundlach said he felt "great."

"It's 67-to-zero," Gundlach reportedly said. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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