The seven jurors in the $1B intellectual property theft
case brought against Disney by All Pro Sports Camps execs
Nicholas Stracick and Edward Russell deliberated yesterday
for almost seven hours "before going home for the night with
plans to resume" at 9:00am ET today, according to Jerry
Jackson of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. All Pro attorney Willie
Gary said, "The longer it takes, the better I feel. They
are focusing on the concept [rather than] legal
definitions." N.Y.-based PaineWebber analyst Christopher
Dixon "predicted that the effect of even a sizable jury
verdict on Disney's stock might be modest because the case
could drag on for years during an appeal" (ORLANDO SENTINEL,
8/11). CNNfn's Jim Paymar said, "If the jury does rule
against Disney it would be another difficult financial pill
to swallow for the company." Burnham Securities analyst
David Leibowitz: "As far as insurance goes, there are
usually policies but there would be a limitation on the size
of the coverage. As far as the stock price goes, if this
case goes against Disney and the award is huge, I would look
for the stock to actually come back a bit. ... The high
profile cases have brought unwarranted attention. Clearly,
when you have a mega award go against you it's not the thing
that is going to make the shareholders jump for joy. But
even if an award goes against the company of this sort, you
are not going to see a diminution of attendance at Euro
Disney. You're not going to see ABC lose any of its
audience for "Millionaire." Shares of Walt Disney were down
1/16 to close at 40 1/2 yesterday (CNBC, 8/10).
ADVANTAGE, PLAINTIFFS? CNNfn's Beverly Schuch reported
an alternate juror who "heard all the evidence" in the case
but was then dismissed, told Reuters "he would have voted at
least partly in favor of the plaintiffs and did not think
the amount sought was unreasonable" (CNNfn, 8/10).
