Superior Court of California, County of Orange. Lead counsel for a California-based operator of residential drug and alcohol treatment facilities in a multi-count arbitration before ADR Services, Inc. and subsequent judgment-confirmation proceeding against the facilities’ former management-services agent. The claims included breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, and fraud, arising from the agent’s diversion of patients and staff to a competing facility it had acquired, the misappropriation of insurance payments through unauthorized changes to the client’s billing platforms, the fraudulent procurement and retention of PPP loan proceeds on the client’s facilities, and the systemic falsification of monthly financial reports. Obtained an arbitration award and confirmed judgment in the client’s favor in the amount of $6,070,673.71 plus post-judgment interest.
Los Angeles County Superior Court. Lead counsel for a court-appointed receiver and its principal in a lis pendens and specific-performance action brought by a defaulted buyer. Secured expungement of the lis pendens, summary judgment on collateral estoppel grounds, and entry of final judgment dismissing all claims with prejudice — clearing title for the receiver to complete a substitute sale of the property.
San Diego County Superior Court. Lead counsel for an institutional lender in commercial litigation against a PACE program administrator arising from the alleged recording of fraudulent priming PACE assessment liens on lender-financed Southern California real estate. Defeated the defendant’s anti-SLAPP motion to strike the complaint in its entirety, with the court rejecting the defendant’s argument that the recording and enforcement of PACE assessments constituted constitutionally protected prelitigation activity.
Indiana Commercial Court. Lead counsel for a real estate investment fund and its single-purpose acquisition entities in commercial-court litigation arising out of a six-property, $30 million-plus multifamily portfolio transaction. Defeated, on summary judgment, all three of the sellers’ counterclaims for actual fraud, fraud in the inducement, and fraudulent concealment. Also obtained summary judgment defeating sellers’ specific-performance counterclaim and securing client ownership of approximately $727,000 in HUD replacement reserve accounts.
Senior Lender Workout and Non-Judicial Foreclosure — Summit County, Utah. Lead counsel for an institutional senior secured lender through a multi-year workout and ultimate foreclosure of a Trust Deed encumbering a multi-lot luxury residential subdivision. Resolved senior lien priority disputes with a bank lender; structured escrow controls and payment-priority letters governing individual lot sales; advised the client on bond and lien resolution proposals with county and municipal water-authority bond holders as well as on HOA and municipal completion-lien issues; negotiated and finalized a multi-party settlement and release with the developer, the developer’s managers, and a residence investor with a recorded notice of interest; and ultimately served as Successor Trustee, conducting the non-judicial foreclosure sale and executing the recorded Trustee’s Deed conveying thirteen lots across two phases of the subdivision to the client.
Utah Business and Chancery Court. Lead defense counsel for a company and its founder in complex business divorce litigation arising from a contested separation agreement and $8 million membership-interest buyout, with twelve causes of action including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, dissolution, dissociation, unjust enrichment, and declaratory relief. Defeated plaintiffs’ initial TRO motion; defeated plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction in full following a three-day evidentiary hearing, with the court declining to grant mandatory injunctive relief that would have transferred management control of the company to the litigation adversary; defeated plaintiffs’ subsequent motion to appoint a receiver and renewed motion for preliminary injunction.
Utah Fifth Judicial District Court. Lead counsel for a multi-generational family-owned contracting company in shareholder oppression, fraud, and equity-percentage litigation in which a minority third-generation shareholder sought a forced buyout under Utah Code § 16-10a-1902 and asserted that his ownership should be increased. Defeated plaintiff’s motion to appoint a receiver; obtained summary judgment establishing as a matter of law that the company’s third-generation ownership percentages were governed by the executed agreements; and obtained partial summary judgment ruling as a matter of law that seven categories of alleged oppressive conduct — including the election of company leadership, shareholder signatory status, access to corporate documents, proposed bylaws updates, a 2020 investment proposal, and the company’s issuance of additional shares — did not constitute shareholder oppression. The matter resolved on confidential terms prior to trial.
Sonoma County (California) Superior Court. Lead counsel for a restaurant investor and co-owner in fraud, conversion, and accounting litigation against a business partner and his holding company arising from cash misappropriation, conversion of high-value wine inventory, and falsification of financial statements that had induced over $1 million in investments and loans into a Michelin-recommended California restaurant. Resolved within approximately four months of pre-suit demand through a negotiated restructuring and relinquishment agreement under which the defendant relinquished his entire membership interest, leaving the client as the sole member of the holding company, and fully cooperated in the transfer of the restaurant’s liquor license and operating permits.
Delaware Court of Chancery. Lead counsel for a medical device manufacturer in expedited Chancery litigation arising from the manufacturer’s termination of an exclusive distribution agreement. Following an expedited discovery and motion schedule, and in the weeks before the scheduled trial, the matter resolved through a negotiated settlement.
Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court, Broward County, Florida. Lead counsel for a liquid-cooling-systems manufacturer in commercial litigation against affiliated Florida and Costa Rican supply chain entities, asserting claims for breach of express and implied warranties, alter ego liability, and unjust enrichment arising from defective parts used in products sold to the client’s customers. Defeated the Costa Rican entity’s motion to quash substituted service and defended against the defendants’ counterclaim for unpaid tooling.
U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. Lead counsel for a healthcare staffing technology platform in federal litigation pursuing collection of approximately $5 million in unpaid invoices and accrued late fees from a defendant healthcare facility. Defended against the facility’s putative class action counterclaim — brought on behalf of other similarly situated facilities and alleging widespread overbilling, breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment. The case was resolved through a stipulated dismissal with prejudice as to both parties’ claims, with the putative class allegations dismissed without certification.
U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. Lead counsel for a Utah law firm in federal commercial litigation arising from a $1.8 million dispute in a multi-million-box transaction in which the law firm had served as transactional counsel to one of the entities involved and had held disputed funds in custody. Obtained dismissal of all claims asserted against the law firm — including negligence and constructive trust theories — under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), resulting in the firm’s dismissal as a defendant in the action.
