OTHER NEWS - July 3, 1993

Upper Deck Co. Wins Round in Court: Judge James Cook of Orange County Superior Court overturned a $33.1-million jury award against the baseball card manufacturer, saying that actions by the plaintiff’s lawyer prevented the company from getting a fair trial. In a written order, Cook said the May 21 jury decision against Upper Deck, based in Carlsbad in San Diego County, could not stand because there was “insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict and the verdict is against the law.” Upper Deck was sued by former corporate attorney Andrew M. Passante Jr., who said he was promised a 3% stake in the privately held company. The jury awarded Passante $33.1 million, based on estimates that the maker of popular baseball trading cards is worth about $1.1 billion. Passante has two months to appeal Cook’s ruling.