David 1, Goliath 0

In a long and contentious battle over a noncompete clause, a Florida gardener, appearing pro se, has knocked star litigator David Boies and his 200-lawyer firm out of court.  After spending nearly $5 million of legal time and expertise on the case, a Florida judge ruled that Boies’ firm should be disqualified for conflict of interest, and that one of his clients should be jailed 30 days for contempt.

It’s a sweet win for Scott Lewis, who says he and his wife have spent 7,000 hours of their own time litigating the dispute.  Some 75 lawyers from 10 law firms have spent 15,000 pro bono hours litigating on behalf of Lewis’s opponents.  The rather bizarre dispute stems from the sale of Lewis’s small gardening business for $800,000 in 1996.