Appian Just Took Another Step to a $2 Billion Award

Multibillion-dollar legal awards aren't particularly common for publicly traded companies, so it raised eyebrows when Appian (NASDAQ: APPN) was awarded a $2.036 billion judgment over rival Pegasystems (NASDAQ: PEGA) in May. Appian, the low-code software company, sued Pegasystems for its "unjust enrichment" after the latter company hired a contractor, which it referred to internally as a "spy," to give it trade secrets about Appian; Pegasystems then used those to train its sales force to better compete with Appian. The court also ordered Pegasystems to pay $23.6 million as reimbursement for Appian's attorney fees.