Eugene Rome

Representative Cases

Payment Processing Matters

• Currently representing dozens of merchants in payment and reserve funds disputes with dozens of Independent Sales Organizations (“ISOs”) and acquirer banks.  Representations include payment activity analysis, evaluation of reporting and charges, mitigation service analysis, and assessment of fees chargeable to high-risk merchant accounts. To date, Mr. Rome and colleagues at Rome LLP have collected tens of millions in “lost,” stolen, and diverted merchant funds.  
• After a two-week jury trial, Mr. Rome obtained a $9 million verdict consisting of $1.5 million in actual damages and $7.5 million in a dispute involving a Philippine bank and processor who, along with an elaborate web of individuals and companies, worked in concert to divert funds belonging to his clients.  Subsequently, the verdict was affirmed in significant part on appeal.
• Mr. Rome conducted a jury trial in which he procured a $2.4 million verdict, which included $1.45 million in punitive damages, in a case entailing a breached oral agreement and fraudulent concealment of more than $1.4 million in profits to a partnership in a complex international payment processing relationship.  In 2017, Mr. Rome argued the 9th Circuit appeal in this matter, securing an order affirming the verdict that was issued within a week of the argument.

Domain Name Litigation 

• In 2022, Mr. Rome, along with colleagues at Rome LLP, represented Namecheap, Inc. in an ACPA / contributory infringement case brought by Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram which garnered considerable industry coverage.  The matter was resolved after extensive motion practice and a Ninth Circuit appeal.
• Represented Freenom in a suit brought by Meta, Inc., for ACPA violations and trademark infringement.  The action was resolved before trial.
• In 2018, following a highly contested series of hearings, Mr. Rome procured a very rare remedy for his longstanding domain name registrar client, Namecheap, Inc. Specifically, Mr. Rome and his team persuaded a Seattle Court to issue a mandatory preliminary injunction ordering the transfer of some 2.8 million domain names from a competing registrar to Namecheap under the BTAPPA protocol. Mr. Rome proceeded to defend the ruling at the appellate level. https://domainnamewire.com/2017/12/21/court-orders-tucows-transfer-3-2-million-domains-namecheap/. The case has resulted in extensive industry coverage and served to propel Namecheap into its present status as the second-largest retail domain name registrar in the world.

Crypto and Blockchain

• Currently representing the plaintiffs in a claim arising from investments in Bitcoin Latinum.
• Representing the owner of TLD .wallet in a suit brought by Unstoppable Domains, concerning blockchain (non-ICANN administered) domain names.
• Representing a number of investors in various crypto and blockchain investments in matters pending in the United States, South Korea and Singapore.

Business Litigation

• Mr. Rome and Ms.Ganesan represented a former CEO of a 1500-person engineering firm accused of perpetrating a “rent-a-vet” scheme in a three-year case culminating in a 3-week long evidentiary hearing before a AAA arbitration panel in Delaware.  Rome LLP came into the case after the engineering firm had self-reported and was fined by the DOJ in the amount of $5.27 million.  Subsequently, the engineering firm pursued its former CEO for over $9 million in resulting losses in Federal Court and a AAA arbitration.  Eugene first chaired the arbitration in which the panelist, in an 89-page opinion, cleared the firm’s client of claims of breaches of fiduciary duty and fraud, ultimately awarding the engineering company nothing on its claims.
• In 2019, Mr. Rome and Ms.Ganesan settled two separate complicated personal injury matters involving traumatic brain injury claims. The first matter entailed a premises liability claim where a toddler sustained a serious brain injury and his family members who observed the incident suffered severe emotional distress. After two years of contentious litigation, Mr. Rome and Ms.Ganesan secured an $18.5 million global settlement for the family. In a separate matter, Mr. Rome represented a passenger in a horrific car wreck that resulted in a traumatic brain injury to the passenger. That case settled for over $4.75 million within a year of filing.
• In 2014, Mr. Rome conducted a jury trial in a reverse-merger fraud case, securing a verdict in excess of $1.5 million consisting of $329,000 in actual damages, $987,000 in punitive damages, $176,982 in attorneys’ fees and $108,889 in costs. Rome’s client prevailed on each claim asserted, including common law fraud claims and California Blue Sky laws.
• In domain matters, Mr. Rome procured a $1.3 million judgment in a mass cybersquatting case against all registrants of the infringing domains as well as individuals and companies monetizing the infringing domains.
• In art matters, Mr. Rome was brought in to assist with prosecuting a forged art case. With Rome LLP’s help, the plaintiff, a prominent Parisian art gallery, secured an $800,000 judgment against the principal actor.  Upon subsequent application, the judgment was trebled to $2.4 million under a rare application in a civil claim of California’s Penal Code section governing theft.