Nicole C. Hancock

Nicole Hancock is a member of Stoel Rives’ Executive Committee and a trial attorney who handles complex business litigation matters in federal and state court. Nicole is a business-savvy trial attorney, having served as in-house counsel for a global seed company and as lead trial counsel in state and federal court matters. She is focused on her clients’ business needs and works to find solutions that meet their business goals. In addition to her litigation work, Nicole serves as outside general counsel for mid-sized companies, using her prior experience as in-house counsel to provide legal services that mitigate against corporate risk and exposure. Nicole uses her business and courtroom experience to develop and implement winning legal strategies that are efficient and help achieve her clients’ desired outcomes.

Nicole’s trial practice emphasizes commercial and corporate disputes and risk mitigation. She has litigated cases involving contract disputes, corporate fiduciary duty claims, non-compete disputes, product liability claims, chemical application and drift claims, corporate risk management, business transactions, advertising claims, trade secret defense and enforcement, corporate torts, and injunction actions. Nicole is a highly respected litigator who has successfully first-chaired trials in federal and state courts, arbitration, and regulatory actions ranging from high-stakes litigation to smaller matters that impact her clients’ businesses. She is also recognized for her handling of administrative and regulatory enforcement proceedings.

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Education

Willamette University College of Law, J.D., 2002, magna cum laude; Editor-in-Chief, Willamette Law Review

Western Oregon University, B.S., American Sign Language English Interpretation, 1998

Agribusiness Seminar, Harvard Business School Executive Education, Jan. 2011

IADC Trial Academy, Stanford University, 2010

Admissions

Idaho

Oregon

Washington

United States District Court for the District of Idaho

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Languages

Relevant Professional Experience

• Law Clerk for the Hon. Thomas G. Nelson, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (2002–2003)

Representative Trial Work

• Dynamis Energy v. Rule Steel Tanks Inc. Lead trial counsel for corporate contract dispute over supply contract.
• Mahoney (as Representative of Former Stockholders of PakSense) v. Emerson. Lead trial counsel for stockholder representatives in dispute with acquiring company over earn-out calculations and payment.
• ELJ v. Westland Irrigation District. Lead trial counsel for Westland Irrigation District, defending water distribution practices of irrigation district and successfully obtaining dismissal of both state and federal lawsuits, confirming lawfulness of irrigation district’s distribution practices.
• Lead trial counsel for beer and wine distributor in lawsuit enforcing Idaho’s franchise protection statutes.
• New Energy One (Western States Equipment) v. McAlvain Design Build Inc. Lead arbitration counsel in dispute over construction defect claims related to design and build for anaerobic digester that was designed to turn dairy farm waste into energy.
• Omnipure v. Watts. Lead trial counsel in multiple national product liability claims for water filtration products, resulting in favorable resolution of all claims in favor of client Omnipure.
• Haskell v. McCain Foods USA. Lead trial and arbitration counsel for potato processing company in dispute with subcontractor re construction, development, and contractor termination for potato processing plant.
• Lead counsel representing dairy producer-handlers and out-of-state producer in nine-week USDA Federal Milk Marketing Order promulgation hearing.
• Bill Jones Distributing v. Hayden Beverage. Successfully obtained injunction and declaratory relief against Hayden Beverage for unlawfully terminating distribution rights to sub-distributor of beer and wine products.
• Successfully negotiated settlement in advance of trial on behalf of plaintiff asserting breach of non-competition agreement and third-party interference with business relationships.
• City of Eagle v. Premier Industrial. Successfully settled condemnation action on behalf of private property owner in condemnation eminent domain action filed by the City of Eagle.
• Rule Steel v. Michael Arevalo. Lead trial counsel in Idaho State Court for three-week jury trial. Obtained unanimous verdict in favor of client, recovering 100% of all compensatory damage claims and recovering on punitive damage claim in financial workout case with claims of breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, breach of contract, and punitive damages.
• Rule Steel v. Michael Arevalo. As lead trial counsel, successfully obtained full dismissal on summary judgment of all counterclaims for breach of contract (written and oral), unjust enrichment, quantum meruit, conversion, tortious interference with contract, and tortious interference with prospective economic advantage alleged against client in financial workout litigation.
• Dornoch Holdings International v. ConAgra Lamb Weston. As lead trial counsel, successfully obtained full dismissal with prejudice on behalf of ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston against plaintiffs’ multiple claims for breach of contract and breaches of fiduciary duties arising out of an option agreement to acquire a South American potato processing entity. The U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho specifically found that the plaintiffs, the owner of the plaintiffs, and/or the plaintiffs’ counsel were “deceitful” to the Court and “intended to defraud the court by conceal[ment].” Based on discovery abuses and the willful deception of the Court, the multimillion-dollar case was dismissed in its entirety with prejudice.
• Aardema, Bettencourt, Golden Valley Dairy et al. v. Northwest Dairy Association. Trial counsel on a three-person trial team in a three-week jury trial for Northwest Dairy Association in Twin Falls County, Idaho, resulting in a full defense verdict against claims for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and breach of contract with a multimillion-dollar claim over forward milk price contracts against the dairy cooperative.
• Hull Farms v. Reitsma. Successful jury trial recovering damages on an intentional interference claim and establishing easement rights for an agricultural business.
• TEC Distributing v. Hayden Beverage. Successfully obtained protective order on behalf of a beer and wine distributor in protecting franchise distribution rights and defined statutory protection afforded franchisees in Idaho.
• Borders Melon Co. v. Dulcinea Farms, Inc. As lead trial counsel, successfully resolved litigation during federal court trial in McAllen, Texas, for large produce company defending against claims under the Perishables and Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) and breach of contract against grower.
• Counsels growers and agricultural entities on state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to the packaging, sales, and delivery of goods, including proper labeling of products, proper chemical or pesticide use on crops or lands, and other agricultural regulatory matters.
• Represents growers and other agricultural entities in various state and federal Department of Agriculture investigations and administrative audits.
• Represents agricultural entities and growers with various types of agriculture contracts, including production agreements, sales contracts, requirement contracts, and purchase contracts.
• Performance Chevrolet v. Market Scan. Successfully represented Performance Chevrolet in contract appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, including recovery of all fees and costs and full collection of resulting award.
• Representation of large agricultural company in numerous grower and production contracts, product sales contracts (for dealer, broker, and direct sales), and licensing agreements.
• Balla v. Idaho Department of Corrections. Successfully represented plaintiffs in a civil rights class action matter in preserving an injunction that protected inmates from overcrowded conditions.
• Performance Chevrolet v. Market Scan. Obtained unanimous jury verdict in federal court commercial contract dispute regarding the performance of a computer software program, resulting in plaintiff recovering its contract damages, attorney fees, and costs.

Insights & Presentations

• Moderator, “Executive Profiles,” Women in Agribusiness Summit, Dallas, TX, September 2022
• Moderator, “Keynote: U.S. State Commissioners of Agriculture Panel,” Women in Agribusiness Summit, Minneapolis, MN, September 2019
• “Idaho District Court finds beer and wine ‘sub-distributorships’ should be afforded same protections for distribution rights as distributor,” Stoel Rives Alcoholic Beverages Law Blog, April 21, 2016
• Presenter, “Sensitive Documents, Privileges, and Work Product: Tips for Creating Smart Documents,” in-house legal department training, February 2015
• “New Idaho Alcohol Sampling Law Is Good for Business,” Idaho Business Review, July 15, 2014
• Co-Presenter, “Idaho Civil Evidentiary Issues,” at the Annual Flagship—Idaho Rules of Evidence: Tips, Traps and Trends, sponsored by the Idaho Law Foundation, Inc., January 24, 2014

• Included in The Best Lawyers in America^® and “Women in the Law”, 2017–present
• Idaho State Bar Service Award, Recipient, 2021
• Idaho Women Lawyers’ Kate Feltham Award, Recipient, 2017
• Awarded Idaho’s Leaders in the Law by Idaho Business Review, 2014
• Selected as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” (Idaho) by Chambers USA (Litigation: General Commercial), 2011–present
• Listed in Mountain States Super Lawyers^® (Business Litigation, Corporate), 2013–present
• Listed in Top 50 Mountain States Women Lawyers, Super Lawyers^®, 2015–2016
• Listed as a “Future Star” by Benchmark Litigation
• Idaho Business Review’s Idaho Women of the Year Award, Recipient, 2008
• Idaho Academy of Leadership for Lawyers, Inaugural class, 2011–2012
• Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce-Leadership Boise, Graduate, 2006–2008

Professional

• Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit Conference of the United States Court, 2015–2018; Lawyer Representative Emeritus, 2019–2020
• Idaho Academy of Leadership for Lawyers (IALL), Idaho State Bar, Steering Committee, Former Member
• Women in Agribusiness Summit, New Orleans, Louisiana, Former Advisory Board
• Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, Food & Agriculture Industry Advisory Board Member
• Idaho Food Producers Association, Member
• Idaho Eastern Oregon Seed Association and American Seed Trade Association, Member
• Idaho Women Lawyers, Member; Former President; Former Vice President; Former Board of Directors
• American Agricultural Law Association, Member, 2008–present
• American Seed Trade Association, Member, 2009–present
• Idaho Eastern Oregon Seed Association, Member, 2009–present
• International Association of Defense Counsel, Member, 2010–present