The Claim:
A manufacturer of medical equipment sued one of its distributors, claiming the distributor had breached its contract to market and distribute the plaintiff's products. The plaintiff's economic expert pointed to a slowing in the growth of sales by the defendant as evidence of the breach.


Our Findings:
We examined sales of the plaintiff's products by other distributors and compared the pattern to sales by the defendant.  The comparison revealed that sales by other distributors were strikingly similar to sales by the defendant, indicating other factors - not a breach of contract - could explain the plaintiff's slowing sales.