Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, May 18, 2015
Vol. 102, No. 131 • Two Sections
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
ParkerVision hearing sparks selloff
Around the same time that a federal appeals court was hearing arguments in ParkerVision Inc.’s patent infringement lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc. on May 8, a selloff of ParkerVision’s already beaten-down stock began. Did something bad happen to Jacksonville-based ParkerVision in that hearing? It’s difficult to say. ParkerVision is appealing a federal judge’s decision last year to overturn a jury’s verdict that awarded the company $173 million in the lawsuit. ParkerVision has alleged Qualcomm has been illegally using
the company’s patented wireless radio technology in its products. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., heard arguments in that Friday hearing but did not make any rulings. As it happened, ParkerVision had scheduled its regular quarterly conference call with investors for the following Monday, May 11. In that call, CEO Jeff Parker said he didn’t want to make any predictions on the outlook for his appeal, based on the hearing. “I’m not in the business of reading the tea leaves and mak-
ing such predictions, so I’m not going to do that,” he said. Parker did give a detailed account of the questions the appellate judges had. The questions and answers were very technical in nature and likely over the head of most laymen, but somebody heard something that prompted investors to bail out of the stock.
ParkerVision’s stock fell sharply last year after its $173 million award was thrown out, and it has been trading below $1 in recent weeks. But the stock fell by another 27 cents to 39 cents May 8, a 41 percent drop, with more than 4 million shares traded. That is more than 10 times the normal trading volume in the stock. “In terms of what prompted the (May 8) selloff, I don’t know,” Parker said. Parker said he first noticed the stock drop when he checked his phone after leaving the courtroom. Basch... Continued Page A-11
Parker
Law firm in arena flap weighing options Accuses SMG of breaching contract
Photo by Max Marbut
By David Chapman Staff Writer
Attorney Eric Roberson and his wife, Helen, found out about his appointment as a judge the day they saw their baby’s sonogram.
Double dose of good news
Roberson sees first sonogram same day he’s named judge By Max Marbut Staff Writer When attorney Eric Roberson accompanied his wife to her doctor’s appointment May 8, he knew he’d remember it as one of the happiest moments of his life. While he and his wife, Helen, were viewing the sonogram image of their 18-weekold son — counting 10 fingers and 10 toes, he said — Roberson’s cellphone vibrated and displayed “unknown number.” The call was from Gov. Rick Scott, notifying Roberson he was appointed Duval County judge, filling the vacancy created when Judge Angela Cox was named a circuit judge. “That morning turned out to be two of the happiest moments of my life,” said Roberson. He discovered the law after enrolling at the University of North Florida intending to earn a degree in criminal psychology. One of his instructors suggested Roberson might enjoy some related study and
Public
“That morning turned out to be two of the happiest moments of my life.” Eric Roberson About the day he saw the sonogram of his first child and was appointed a County Court judge after a taste of moot court competition, he set his sights on the Levin College of Law at the University of Florida. A solo practitioner since 2014, Roberson began his legal career in 2005 as an assistant state attorney in the 4th Judicial Circuit. Two years later, he entered private practice at McGuireWoods and then practiced
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at Jason Porter P.A. from 2011-14. Roberson, 35, said his experience as a prosecutor combined with private practice should serve him well as he transitions to the bench. “I’ve had experience in every kind of case I’ll hear in county court,” he said. “But it will be from a different vantage point.” While the story began with two of the happiest moments of Roberson’s life, the call from the governor set up two big challenges. The first is to “wind down” his practice at Roberson Law, he said. “Being a solo practitioner, I have to find new homes for everything,” Roberson said. The next big step will come after he puts on the robe and grasps the gavel. “I’ll be taking off the advocate’s hat and putting on the neutral arbiter’s hat,” he said.
On May 8, the Hunt, Green & James firm planned to host a group of children and their parents for that evening’s stuntfilled “Nitro Circus” show in the Veterans Memorial Arena suite they’d received as part of a sponsorship agreement. It was the same day SMG sent the firm a letter saying that agreement had been terminated. Attached were invoices totaling almost $67,000 and word that its suite agreement also was over. Instead of a fun night of high-flying electricity, it was phone calls to parents and children informing them about the situation. The firm in October signed an amended three-year agreement that it would pay $336,000 — $96,000 the first year, $120,000 for each of the the next two — in exchange for advertising, signage, sponsorships and suite access. It was the firm’s exterior advertising on the arena that led to the controversy and pushback by some in the community. The displays were deemed illegal May 7 by the city’s Office of General Counsel, which said they violated city and state laws. But trouble in the deal can been seen more than a month earlier. In a March 27 letter from the firm to SMG, Hunt, Green & James questioned why the $8,000 per month payments weren’t being processed. It also explained additional charges for creating signage hadn’t been paid because receipts weren’t presented. And the letter claimed City Council member Bill Bishop had breached a “confidentiality agreement” by talking about details of the contract to the media. It was
mmarbut@jaxdailyrecord.com @DRMaxDowntown (904) 356-2466
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