MIAMI, FL — The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed a $9.2 million judgment obtained by Podhurst Orseck on behalf of client Circuitronix, LLC, closing the book on a years-long breach of contract dispute with Chinese circuit board manufacturer Jiangmen Benlida Printed Circuit Co., Ltd. (“Benlida”). The appellate panel’s August 17, 2026 decision affirms both the trial court’s earlier summary judgment ruling in Circuitronix’s favor and the jury’s subsequent verdict on Circuitronix’s counterclaim, which the district court amended in April 2024 to include prejudgment interest.
“This is a full vindication of the trial strategy and of Circuitronix’s position,” said Stephen Rosenthal, Partner at Podhurst Orseck.
ABOUT THE CASE
The case began in January 2021, when Benlida sued Circuitronix in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, seeking more than $13.6 million it claimed Circuitronix owed on unpaid invoices for circuit boards. Podhurst Orseck attorneys Stephen Rosenthal, Matthew Weinshall, and Christina Martinez uncovered evidence that Benlida had misapplied payments across separate corporate entities and that Circuitronix had, in fact, overpaid Benlida by more than $2 million.
In September 2023, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. granted summary judgment for Circuitronix on all of Benlida’s claims, finding that Benlida could not hold Circuitronix responsible for invoices issued to a separate Hong Kong affiliate absent allegations of agency or alter-ego liability. The ruling flipped Circuitronix from defendant to counter-plaintiff just three weeks before trial.
During the October 2023 jury trial, the Podhurst Orseck team presented evidence that Benlida had overpaid, not underpaid, for the circuit boards Circuitronix ordered and received. The jury returned a verdict of $7.5 million in favor of Circuitronix. In April 2024, the district court entered an amended final judgment adding $1,621,249.45 in prejudgment interest and attorneys’ fees, for a total judgment of $9,207,096.45.
“From the outset, the records told a very different story from the one Benlida alleged. Through a careful analysis of the invoices and payments, we established that Circuitronix did not owe Benlida millions of dollars, instead it had significantly overpaid. We are proud to have secured this result for our client and to see it upheld on appeal,” said Matthew Weinshall, Partner at Podhurst Orseck.
THE APPEAL
Benlida appealed both the summary judgment ruling and the trial verdict to the Eleventh Circuit, arguing that the district court should have permitted it to pursue unpled agency and alter-ego theories at summary judgment and to introduce related expert accounting testimony at trial. In a unanimous opinion, a panel of the Eleventh Circuit rejected each of Benlida’s arguments and affirmed the district court in full, holding that Benlida’s failure to plead an agency or alter-ego theory in its original complaint barred it from raising those theories for the first time at summary judgment or trial.
“We are pleased the court unanimously affirmed the judgment in full and brought this long-running dispute to a definitive close,” said Christina Martinez, Associate at Podhurst Orseck.
The ruling closes out the litigation and cements Podhurst Orseck’s victory for Circuitronix with a judgment that, with interest that has accrued during the appeal, now exceeds $10 million.
