Lamar Advertising Uses Cutthroat Mob Style Business Tactics To Dominate The Billboard Advertising Market

You are driving down I-75 and spot billboards advertising everything gentleman’s clubs to fastfood places. At the bottom of the sign it simply says “Lamar”. But you’re whizzing along at 80 miles per hour and focused about getting to get to your destination. So, you really don’t care who or what Lamar or Lamar Advertising is.

They are the largest billboard advertising company in North America. They are so big that they have a monopoly in the billboard advertising business. How did they become the biggest billboard advertising company in North America? The 100 year-old company wants you to think they earned their monopoly by a lot of hard work.

However, that’s not the case. Lamar’s business practices are something straight out of the Godfather or the Sopranos. They will resort any tactics necassary to maintain their monopoly. This includes mob style tactics of intimidation and harassment of their competitors. They also have no issue in recruiting a competitor’s employees to commit industrial espionage and sabatoge. 

When all of that doesn’t work, they call in their most dangerous weapon. That’s right, they call in their lawyers. In the world of corporate law, the job of a corporate lawyer is not a quick win. It’s to bankrupt the opposing side to death by burying them under mountains of legal debt and litigation costs. This is especially true for Lamar Advertising who is not afraid to leverage it’s size to stomp out competition. 

Lamar Advertising Busted Using Mob Tactics On A Detroit Competitor

An example of Lamar Advertising’s underhanded business tactics has been playing out in suburban Detroit since 2016. It has everything you can think of employee betrayal and corporate espionage. In addition, it has neverending litigation and one of Michigan’s most inept Michigan judges. 

The story begins in 2009 when Detroit-based International Outdoor (IO) leased land along I-75 in Auburn Hills. The goal was to erect a billboard and sell advertising on it. The lease was for five years with monthly payments of $1,000. The lease also contained an option IO to lease the land for additional 5 years. This would extend the lease through 2019. 

In December 2013, IO President Randy Oram signed the option agreement with property owner SS-MITX. However, soon after the property location and IO sign attracted the attention of Lamar Advertising. Lamar began tried everything they could think of to get SS-MITX to pull out of the lease agreement with IO.

Lamar offered to pay SS-MITX three to four times what IO was paying them. Initially, SS-MITX wouldn’t budge. They didn’t want to deal with the headache of a breach of contract lawsuit from Randy Oram. SS-MITX knew that Oram and IO would undoubtably prevail in a damage lawsuit.

Yet, that was not enough to stop a determined Lamar. They were hellbent on having this lucrutive spot on I-75 north of Detroit. So they conceived a plan stright out of the Godfather II.

In 2016, Lamar induced SS-MITX to breach the contract with IO. Lamar then applied for a permit with the City of Auburn Hills to erect a billboard on property.

As a result, IO sued SS-MITX for breach of contract and Lamar for tortious interference. 

Lamar Advertising And  SS-MITX  Groom Patrick Depa

In June 2018, the Oakland County Circuit Judge Wendy Potts awarded IO $405,000 in damages. However, something unexpected happens. Right after the ruling Judger Potts retires. The court clerk immediately assigned the case to Judge Martha Anderson. As a result, Lamar filed a mtion for reconsideration. While the two sides prepared to litigate the motion for reconsideration, IO account executive Patrick Depa abruptly quit. Depa had been the account executive handling the Auburn Hills lease deal since joining IO in 2013.

As we have written about before, Depa download hundreds of confidential IO files. These files and emails contained detailed information about IO’s internal communications regarding SS-MITX and the Auburn Hills property. They also included blueprints for billboard signage and other confidential files.

Lamar and SS-MITX knew they it was only a matter of time before IO would prevail in court. So, they decided to exploit Patrick Depa’s struggles with substance abuse issues. So Lamar’s lawyers and SS-MITX CEO Kyle Schmutzler devised a plan to groom and recruit Patrick Depa to help them. Apparently, Kyle Schmutzler and Lamar Midwest Regional Manager Tom Fahey watch too much TV. Whatthey didn’t realize is what works in the Godfather or the Sopranos hardly works in real life. 

Depa soon became a central figure in the litigation between Lamar/SS-MITX and International Outdoor. The underhanded scheme worked at first. Judge Anderson reversed Judge Potts’ ruling andreversed the jury award. Why? well, she based her opinion on hearsay evidence contained in an affidavit from Depa. Yes, even when it was apparent that Depa lied in his affidavit multiple times.

So, an undeterred Randy Oram decided to keep fighting for justice. 

Next Week: Lamar Advertising Starts A Political Smear Campaign Against Randy Oram And International Outdoor Only On MichiganLawFare.com.

Also, you can check out all the legal filings at MichiganInjustice.com