Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

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Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

Note 7 - Commitments and Contingencies

 

Litigation


On December 4, 2020, TechMagic USA LLC (TechMagic) filed suit against our wholly-owned subsidiary, Solo, in the Massachusetts Superior Court, Department Business Litigation, seeking recovery for certain unpaid invoices pursuant to a Master Services Agreement dated February 5, 2018 (the Master Services Agreement) by and between TechMagic and Solo. The suit sought recovery for continued fees under the Master Services Agreement through the end of January 2021. Akerna provided a notice of termination of the Master Services Agreement on November 23, 2020 and the parties disputed the effective date of the termination. Solo disputed the validity of the invoices, in whole or in part. Mr. Ashesh Shah, formerly the president of Solo and currently the holder of less than 5% of our issued and outstanding shares of Common Stock is, to our knowledge, the founder and one of the principal managers of TechMagic. On May 21, 2021, Solo filed suit against two of Solo's former directors, Mr. Shah and Palle Pedersen. Solo sought recovery for Mr. Shah's intentional interference with contractual relations, and the defendant's breaches of various fiduciary duties owed to Solo. Defendant Shah engaged in improper communications with Solo's customers with the intent that those customers cease their contractual relations with Solo. The defendants also entered into an improper contract with a contractual counter party with whom the defendants had a conflict of interest. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, which the court found unpersuasive and denied. In July 2022, we entered into an agreement with TechMagic and the defendants to dismiss all litigation and claims described above. In connection with the settlement agreement, we reversed our previously accrued loss contingency of $0.5 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2022.


On April 2, 2021, TreCom Systems Group, Inc. (“TreCom”) filed suit against Akerna and our wholly-owned subsidiary, MJ Freeway, LLC, in federal District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, seeking recovery of up to approximately $2 million for services allegedly provided pursuant to a Subcontractor Agreement between MJ Freeway and TreCom. MJ Freeway provided a notice of termination of the operative Subcontractor Agreement on August 4, 2020. MJ Freeway disputes the validity of TreCom’s invoices and the enforceability of the alleged agreement that TreCom submitted to the court. Akerna filed counterclaims against TreCom for breach of contract, a declaratory judgment, commercial disparagement, and defamation. TreCom failed to return Akerna’s intellectual property and issued numerous disparaging statements to one of Akerna’s clients. TreCom subsequently filed a motion to dismiss these counterclaims, which was denied by the court. Akerna intends to vigorously defend against TreCom’s claims, and pursue its own claims. As of December 31, 2021 and June 30, 2022, we recognized a loss contingency of $0.2 million.


From time to time, we may be involved in litigation relating to claims arising out of our operations in the normal course of business. We will accrue a liability for such matters when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. When only a range of possible loss can be established, the most probable amount in the range is accrued. If no amount within this range is a better estimate than any other amount within the range, the minimum amount in the range is accrued. The accrual for a litigation loss contingency might include, for example, estimates of potential damages, outside legal fees and other directly related costs expected to be incurred. As of June 30, 2022, and through the date these consolidated financial statements were issued, there were no other legal proceedings requiring recognition or disclosure in the consolidated financial statements.


Operating Leases


During the first half of 2022, we began negotiations to terminate the 365 Cannabis office lease in Las Vegas, Nevada. We recorded an obligation and lease termination expense of $0.5 million which is management’s best estimate of the costs to exit our existing lease. The lease termination expense is included within the General and Administrative expense line item on the condensed consolidated statement of operations.