Florida Bar Board Certified in Business Litigation and an adjunct professor at Florida State University, Marty Sipple focuses his practice in the areas of business litigation and intellectual property, representing clients in a variety of industries.
Martin Sipple, a shareholder with Ausley McMullen and board certified by The Florida Bar in the area of Business Litigation, focuses his practice in the areas of business litigation and intellectual property matters.
Marty is an experienced trial attorney who regularly represents a variety of business clients in both state and federal trial courts. In his intellectual property practice which includes patent, trademark and copyright matters, Marty has represented clients in numerous industries ranging from industrial products and educational service providers to bioscience companies and microbreweries.
Prior to joining the firm, Marty served as a clerk for the Nebraska Supreme Court and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
Marty is also an adjunct professor at the Florida State University College of Law where he teaches trial practice and serves as Chair of the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Contract and Business Cases.
- Successfully obtained appellate reversal of a trial court judgment in an intellectual property matter. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a jury determination that certain patents involved in a patent infringement suit were invalid as obvious. Mr. Sipple argued the case on appeal and the decision is reported at HVLPO2, LLC v. Oxygen Frog, LLC, 949 F.3d 685 (Fed. Cir. 2020).
- First chaired the trial of a dissolution and derivative action brought by the 50% owner of a Florida limited liability company. The client successfully obtained a judgment awarding amounts to both the member and the company, as well as an award of attorneys' fees.
- First chaired a jury trial in federal court involving claims for breach of oral contract, promissory estoppel, unjust enrichment and misappropriation of trade secrets arising out of a business relationship for the development of gas analyzers used by scuba divers. The client successfully obtained a judgment on the promissory estoppel claim.
- Successfully obtained appellate affirmance of a trial court judgment dismissing a lawsuit in which the plaintiff sought more than $6 million for the alleged breach of an agreement for management of the Gadsden Memorial Hospital. Served as lead counsel both in the trial court and on appeal.
- Successfully tried a derivative suit in which the managing member of a limited liability company obtained a jury verdict finding that another managing member breached his fiduciary duties and misappropriated a corporate opportunity relating to the patent rights for a novel golf putter.
- Co-First chaired a trial in which a physician group sought damages resulting from a defectively designed air conditioning system for an ambulatory surgical center. Such facilities are regulated by the State because of the patient risks associated with hot, humid air and airborne pathogens. The client prevailed at trial and the trial court entered judgments for damages and attorneys fees in favor of the physician group.
- First chaired a trial on behalf of a minority shareholder to enforce an agreement by the majority shareholder to sell his shares. The minority shareholder prevailed and is now the 100% owner of the corporation.
- Lead attorney in an intellectual property matter involving use of a client's trademark by a competitor as a keyword to generate traffic on the competitor's internet website. Successfully obtained a preliminary injunction ceasing the practice and the matter was resolved shortly before trial.
- First chaired the jury trial of a medical malpractice action in Okaloosa County, Florida. The trial was the second trial of the case, the first verdict having been reversed based upon client argument that the trial court erred in admitting certain expert testimony in violation of the hearsay rule. The Florida Supreme Court decision ruling in favor of the firm’s client is reported at Linn v. Fossum, 946 So.2d 1032 (Fla. 2006). The Linn decision has been cited in several subsequent cases as well as in such national treatises as The Handbook of Federal Evidence (sec. 703:1) and CJS Evidence (sec. 970).
- Obtained an injunction stopping construction of an outdoor, commercial dog kennel within a commercial office park. The litigation resulted in a stipulated judgment requiring the kennel owner to completely enclose the facility and adhere to noise restrictions, and requiring the kennel owner to reimburse the firm’s client, the owner of an office building adjacent to the kennel site, for all attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in the litigation.
- Lead attorney in successful defense of an injunction suit against the developers of the “Alliance Center,” a multi-story office complex in downtown Tallahassee. The office complex is part of Tallahassee’s attempt to create an “18 hour downtown.” Following an evidentiary hearing in state circuit court, the trial judge denied the opposing party’s request for an injunction and the project is complete.
- Lead attorney in an intellectual property matter involving copyrights and successfully obtained an injunction stopping the Florida Division of Emergency Management from prominently featuring in a statewide publication certain weather-related cartoon characters created and copyrighted by the firm’s client. The case was litigated in federal court in Tallahassee and resulted in the State of Florida entering a license agreement with the firm’s client requiring it to pay a license fee for past and future use of the characters.
- Gave opening statement and closing argument in a jury trial in federal court in Miami involving a $20 million claim against the firm’s client, a hedge fund based in California. Represented the hedge fund along with counsel from New York and Chicago.
- First chaired the trial of a breach of contract action against a telecommunications provider in federal court in Gainesville. The plaintiff sought to recover under a contract under which it provided certain auditing services and the case turned on whether the scope of the audit had been limited through oral discussions. The trial court ruled in favor of the telecommunications provider based on a finding that its witnesses were more credible and persuasive.
- Successfully obtained appellate reversal of a trial court judgment in an intellectual property matter. The firm's client, a drug discovery company based in Los Angeles, was sued by Florida State University for allegedly misappropriating information relating to FSU’s patented process for manufacturing the cancer-treating drug “taxol.” The case was argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. and the decision is reported at The Board of Education, et al. v. American BioScience, Inc., 333 F.3d 1330 (Fed. Cir. 2003).
- Lead attorney in successful suit to invalidate the award to a competitor of a contract to provide computerized gaming systems and services for the Florida Lottery. At the time, the contract was the largest ever let in the State. Successfully argued the case in the trial court and before the Florida First District Court of Appeal. The decision is reported at State of Florida, Department of Lottery v. GTECH Corporation, 816 So.2d 848 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001).
- Lead attorney in successful defense of suit against the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center Authority involving the Authority’s effort to build a convention hotel on its property in downtown Tallahassee. Case resulted in a favorable ruling following a two-day trial.
Education
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Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, Missouri, J.D., 1991
- Order of the Coif
- University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, B.A., High Distinction, 1988
- Executive Notes and Comments Editor, Washington University Law Quarterly, 1991
Bar Admissions
- State of Florida
- State of Illinois
- State of Missouri
- State of Nebraska
- Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
- United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
- United States District Courts for the Districts of Nebraska
- American Bar Association
- Florida Supreme Court Committee on Standard Jury Instructions for Contract and Business Cases (2015-present)
- Florida Bar Federal Court Practice Committee (2006-2013)
- Adjunct Professor, Florida State University School of Law (Trial Practice)
- Leadership Tallahassee Class XVII
- Community Catalyst, Knight Creative Communities Institute (2009-2010)
- Florida Super Lawyers, 2022
- Best Lawyers in America - Commercial Litigation, 2023 - Present
- Northern District of Florida Litigation Checklists, Practical Law, 2015
- "The Wild, Wild Western Hemisphere: Due Process and Treaty Limitations on the Power of U.S. Courts to Try Foreign Nationals Abducted Abroad," 68 Washington U.L.Q. 1047 (1990)
- Associate, Thompson Coburn, St. Louis, Missouri, 1993-1997
- Law Clerk, The Honorable William D. Stiehl, United States District Court, Southern District of Illinois, 1992-1993
- Law Clerk, The Honorable C. Thomas White, Associate Justice, Nebraska Supreme Court, 1991-1992