A police officer once dated a woman who lives at an apartment complex which has a pool and Jacuzzi behind a locked gate. Seven or eight years after the relationship ended, he was spotted using the Jacuzzi by the woman he once dated. She called the police, and the police officer told the investigating officer he […]
An Appellate Court Has The Inherent Power Under The “ Disentitlement Doctrine ” To Dismiss An Appeal By A Party Who Refuses To Comply With A Lower Court Order.
Defendants, an individual and a corporation located in New York, appealed from a California judgment in favor of plaintiffs, but did not post a bond to stay enforcement of the judgment. Plaintiffs registered the judgment in New York and proceeded with execution. Defendants did not comply with a New York subpoena or with a New York […]
Arbitration Ethics Violated.
By the time a medical malpractice case was arbitrated, the lawyer for the defendant doctor was “. . . doing [alternative dispute resolution] with ADR Services, Inc. . . . .” Neither the lawyer nor the arbitrator revealed to plaintiff that the defense lawyer had joined the arbitrator’s arbitration/mediation firm. The arbitrator found in favor of […]
Litigation Privilege Does Not Protect Attorneys.
Plaintiffs sued their neighbors for dumping contaminated debris on their property. The court ordered the neighbors’ lawyers to disburse certain funds if their clients did not clean up as ordered. When the neighbors did not remove the debris, their lawyers “disbursed the funds in a manner contrary to plaintiffs’ interest in remediating the debris on their […]
Lawyer Equitably Estopped From Claiming No Referral Fee Due.
A referring plaintiff’s firm referred a potential class action case to a lawyer who specializes in class actions. The specialty lawyer promised to pay the referring firm one-third of any legal fees recovered. The client consented in writing to the referral fee. The specialty lawyer selected a different class representative than the one referred by […]
Those Running For Judicial Office Beware!
Judge was publicly admonished for violating the Political Reform Act [Government Code §§81000-91014.] when he ran for judicial office in 2008. At that time, he was an attorney-candidate. An audit of the judge’s campaign committee by the Fair Political Practices Commission revealed violations of the Act. There was no evidence of any intent to conceal […]
No Fees To Class Counsel Who Committed Ethical Violation By Representing Clients Whose Interests Were Conflicting.
Plaintiffs filed an antitrust class action against a publishing company. At the outset of the litigation, lawyers entered an “incentive agreement” with some of the plaintiffs whereby the firm would apply to the court for a fee award based on recovery against West Publishing. The agreement provided “If the settlement amount was greater than or […]