November 29th 2007 is a day Paul Moore of Chicago, Illinois will not soon forget! A Harris County, Texas jury unanimously found by clear and convincing evidence that Moore committed fraud against Texas business man David Ownby’s company DGO, Inc. In an emotional jury argument that called to mind Texas history where Wiiliam Barrett Travis drew a line in the sand at the Alamo and took a stand against the encroaching Mexican Army, Mr. Zivley called upon the jury to do the same. In 2001, Moore, a venture capitalist, had agreed to finance a deal whereby DGO, Inc., owned by Mr. Ownby, would buy Altra Technologies. Altra Technologies owned the ”Chalkboard Trading Platform” which is a natural gas liquids internet based trading system. David Ownby and his son Dan designed, created and implemented the Chalkboard Trading Platform in 1992. David and Dan Ownby were thrilled to have the opportunity to acquire from Altra the very trading system they successfully created and implemented years before. Moore initially agreed to fund the deal, but later reneged on the agreement leaving DGO unable to close the transaction. Altra, also a plaintiff in the case, was later sold for a lesser amount. Altra was represented by Mr. Joe Garnett and Mr. Ray Neuer. Larry Ramming, former CEO of Boots & Coots, testifed that Moore had in fact agreed to fund the deal during a December 2001 telephone conference. During the trial Moore emphatically denied he had made an agreement with the Ownbys and even denied knowing who DGO, Inc., was. Through Mr. Ramming’s testimony and other evidence, attorneys for Altra and Mr. Zivley, were able to show that Mr. Moore’s actions were so egregious that the jury awarded DGO Inc., $2.5 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages. The jury also awarded Altra $5,250,000.00 in actual damages for fraud and breach of contract. The jury resoundingly determined that Paul Moore was not a credible witness. One juror was so angry over his testimony she wanted to award $20 million in punitive damages, while another mentioned $100 million. The Chalkboard System is currently used in the natural gas liquid trading industry.