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For Immediate Release
March 14, 2003

Contact:
Todd Holbrook, Esq.
(207) 774-1200
E-mail: jason@wolfenews.com

Jason Wolfe
(207) 775-5115

Web Site: http://www.bernsteinshur.com

Maine-based Fishing Lure Company Wins $1.6 Million Judgment Against Former CEO

Bernstein, Shur Lawyer Todd Holbrook Succeeds in Proving Corporate Misdeeds in Federal Court Case

The former CEO of a Maine-based fishing lure company is on the hook for $1.6 million after a federal judge's ruling that he engaged in unfair competition by selling nearly identical lures.

Chief Judge Donetta Ambrose in Pittsburgh concluded that Joseph Renosky breached his fiduciary duties to Banjo Buddies, Inc., headquartered in The Forks, Maine, and made false representations to the public by selling the lures through infomercials confusingly similar to his former company's advertisements.

The attorney for Banjo Buddies, Todd Holbrook of the Portland, Maine firm Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, said the ruling should send a strong message to corporate officers to play by the rules. Renosky also served as chairman of the board of Banjo Buddies, maker of the Banjo Minnow.

"Corporate officers can and will be held accountable when they misuse their position or any corporate information," Holbrook said. "The judge in this case stated clearly that Renosky had acted illegally in taking what he knew of Banjo Buddies' business and using it in competition with the company. He sold more than $7 million in fishing lures based on this knowledge, and now has to give up his ill-gotten gains."

The case was heard in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh last May. The chief judge issued her legal opinion in favor of Banjo Buddies in November and since that time has been reviewing Renosky's financial information and profits to determine damages. She awarded $1.6 million to Banjo Buddies in an order dated March 10.

Banjo Buddies sells the Banjo Minnow, touted as "the most life like, artificial fishing lure ever created." The popular lure can mimic the spastic action of a wounded dying minnow, triggering a genetic response in predator fish that compels them to bite even if they are not hungry. The lures are sold at www.banjominnow.com.

After Renosky, a Pittsburgh resident, left Banjo Buddies, he began manufacturing and marketing a similar product that he called the Bionic Minnow. Banjo Buddies filed suit in 1999, alleging among other claims that Renosky used confusing infomercials to falsely represent to the public that his products came from Banjo Buddies.

"This is a complete vindication for our company," said Wayne Hockmeyer, president of Banjo Buddies. "We have been telling Renosky since before he even came on the market that he couldn't take these actions and would ultimately be held responsible for them in a court of law. We are pleased with the court's action, and sorry only that it took us so long to get here."

The ruling also bars Renosky from referring to or implying any connection with Banjo Buddies in future advertisements. The judge ordered Renosky to pay the judgment within 30 days, but Holbrook anticipates an appeal that will delay collection by Banjo Buddies until late in the year. Renosky is represented by James Zeszutek at Thorp Reed in Pittsburgh.

Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson is one of northern New England's largest law firms with more than 70 attorneys in offices in Portland and Augusta, Maine and Manchester, New Hampshire. The firm provides legal services in all major subject areas, including corporate and commercial law, litigation and trials, municipal and governmental affairs, education law, employment law, and tax and estate planning. Bernstein, Shur also has an active practice in bankruptcy, health law, environmental law, technology and commerce, legislative law, intellectual property, public utilities and other regulated industries. For more information, visit the Bernstein, Shur web site at www.bssn.com.

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