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Early Sullivan Client Prevails at Bench Trial Against Adverse Possession Claim
Category: News, Results | Tuesday, April 11th, 2023 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Client Prevails at Bench Trial Against Adverse Possession Claim
An Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP trial team of Scott Gizer, Padideh Zargari and Brett Moore successfully defended firm client AVTWO Homes LLC against an adverse possession claim in a bench trial before Judge Hammock in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Plaintiffs claimed to be the owners of certain real property in Los Angeles County through adverse possession based on a grant deed they received from Fannie Mae purporting to convey fee title to the property. However, Fannie Mae did not own fee title to the property, but only owned a leasehold interest in the land. Fannie Mae had made a loan to AVTWO Homes’ tenant to purchase a leasehold interest in the property and the loan was secured against that leasehold interest. The tenant’s leasehold interest was documented through a recorded 40-year Ground Lease. Fannie Mae ultimately foreclosed on its deed of trust and its borrowers’ leasehold interest, but then sold the property to Plaintiffs as if Fannie Mae owned fee title.
The Early Sullivan team presented evidence and argued that due to the recorded Ground Lease, Plaintiffs became tenants under the Ground Lease by operation of law and, thus, were precluded from claiming adverse possession under Code of Civil Procedure section 326. Plaintiffs argued that they could not be deemed tenants unless they had actual knowledge of the Ground Lease and consented to its terms. The trial court ruled in favor of AVTOW Homes finding that Plaintiffs took title subject to the Ground Lease and, thus, were in privity of estate with AVTWO Homes under the Ground Lease. Accordingly, under CCP section 326, Plaintiffs could not assert a claim for adverse possession.
Early Sullivan Obtains $4.85 Million Jury Verdict for Client in Wrongful Foreclosure Case
Category: News, Results, Results | Friday, March 31st, 2023 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Obtains $4.85 Million Jury Verdict for Client in Wrongful Foreclosure Case
An Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae trial team, comprised of Scott Gizer, Rebecca Claudat and Zachary Hansen obtained a $4.85 million jury verdict on behalf of their clients Cashera Plaza, LLC and Tony Khodadad regarding a wrongful foreclosure on vacant land in Hanford, CA.
Cashera Plaza had obtained a $1.13 million construction loan from Defendants to build a self-serve car wash and auto repair facility. The Defendants entrusted the construction funds to a fund control agent, but then secretly used those same funds for a gold refining venture without Plaintiffs’ knowledge or consent. When this gold venture failed, Defendants tried to hold Cashera Plaza responsible for the entire $1.13 million despite Cashera only receiving approximately $140,000, asserting that the fund control agent was under Cashera Plaza’s control and then trying to hide evidence of Defendants’ secret gold venture. Liability was found and the critical issue at trial became whether Plaintiffs could establish damages for lost profits since Plaintiffs’ car wash and auto repair facility was never built due to Defendants’ breaches and fraud.
The jury unanimously found that Plaintiffs had established lost profits with reasonable certainty and awarded Plaintiffs the entire amount of lost profits claimed as well as emotional distress damages for Defendants’ fraud.
Court Dismisses Trademark Infringement Allegations Against Early Sullivan Clients
Category: News, Results | Wednesday, June 15th, 2022 | Comments Off on Court Dismisses Trademark Infringement Allegations Against Early Sullivan Clients
Early Sullivan clients Sayam Sotelo and J. Frank Sotelo, represented by Bryan Sullivan and Zachary Hansen, were granted a motion to dismiss in a case brought by church organization Abundant Living Family Church (ALFC) for allegations involving trademark infringement on behalf of their company, Live Design, Inc. (Live Design).
The claims surrounded Live Design’s refusal to give up rights to the website domain name “www.alfc.church” to ALFC. ALFC had previously contacted Live Design to inquire about purchasing the domain name, and the entities entered into two contracts (signed by J. Frank Sotelo) whereby ALFC would pay a monthly fee to Live Design in exchange for the domain name. Live Design did not perform under these contracts.
Early Sullivan argued in defense of the Sotelos on the ground that their actions were on behalf of Live Design and therefore were protected by the fiduciary shield document. ALFC could not prove their burden that the defendants were the primary participants in the wrongdoing or the direct force of the infringement.
The Court ultimately granted the motion to dismiss the Sotelos and deny ALFC’s request for limited jurisdictional discovery. With the Sotelos being dismissed, the case will now continue with ALFC’s claim against Live Design Inc.
Early Sullivan Obtains Complete Defense For Sun West in Wrongful Termination, Disability Discrimination Case
Category: Results | Tuesday, May 31st, 2022 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Obtains Complete Defense For Sun West in Wrongful Termination, Disability Discrimination Case
An Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae trial team, comprised of Scott Gizer, Diane Myint Luczon, Padideh Zargari, Cameron Aronson, D’Metria Bolden, and Jackie Hosey obtained a complete defense for its client Sun West Mortgage Company, Inc. (“Sun West”) against claims asserted by a former employee for wrong termination, disability discrimination, retaliation and wage and hour violations allegedly in response to the employee’s cancer diagnosis. Specifically, the employee claimed that after he revealed his cancer diagnosis to his supervisor, he was denied leave, forced to work from the hospital, had support staff taken away and his compensation structure changed all in an effort to force him to quit. After a week-long arbitration, involving numerous fact witnesses and hundreds of exhibits, the Early Sullivan team convinced the arbitrator that the former employee was provided with all accommodations requested, that the employee elected not to go on leave so that he could maintain his full salary, that the changes in support staff were based on performance issues within his department, and that his change in compensation, and his ultimate termination, were due solely to financial issues Sun West was experiencing in 2018 and 2019. As a result, the arbitrator held that the former employee was to take nothing on his arbitration complaint, and that Sun West prevailed on all claims, entitling it to its costs.
Early Sullivan Obtains Preliminary Injunction For Its Clients Preventing Neighbors From Blocking Property Access
Category: Results | Thursday, February 10th, 2022 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Obtains Preliminary Injunction For Its Clients Preventing Neighbors From Blocking Property Access
Early Sullivan obtained a Preliminary Injunction for their clients Carl and Laurie Madsen preventing efforts by their neighbors to bar them from using a roadway to their otherwise landlocked home. The Madsen’s property, purchased with intentions to build a home, was left inaccessible after several neighbors blocked the sole road necessary for entry. The neighbors also allegedly harassed vendors and work crews efforts to enter and exit the property. All homeowners and lenders on the road were listed in the lawsuit brought by Early Sullivan attorneys Diane Myint Luczon and Zachary Hansen.
Early Sullivan’s motion for Preliminary Injunction and reply were supported by multiple declarations as were the oppositions that were filed. The detailed Order of the ruling determined that the Madsens have satisfied their burden of showing “the likelihood of suffering irreparable harm unless the conduct attributed to defendants including but not limited to Westlunds, their agents and/or others acting in concert with them, is enjoined.”
The Madsens can now enjoy their property and their neighbors are prohibited from obstructing access.
Court Sides With Early Sullivan Client After $1M Loan Scheme
Category: Results | Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 | Comments Off on Court Sides With Early Sullivan Client After $1M Loan Scheme
In a major bench trial victory, a Court found in favor of Early Sulivan client Cashera Plaza which, in hopes to build a car wash and auto repair center, entered into a $1.13 million construction loan with defendant lender Bian Liao Living Trust. Corporate Asset and Science was appointed as the lender’s fund control agent in the promissory note, with the loan broker named as the trustee of that entity.
After receiving only $140k of the $1.13 million towards entitlement efforts, it was discovered that the fund control agent schemed against Cashera, absconding the rest of the money. The lender then foreclosed without giving proper notice to the client, using an incorrect address and claiming the full loan amount of $1.13 million was due plus interest.
Early Sullivan sued the lender, the fund control agent, and others for breach of contract and fraud, moving to set aside the foreclosure and cancel the foreclosure documents. At Early Sullivan’s request, the Court bifurcated the equitable claims and tried them first. Ultimately, the Court found in Cashera’s favor on the equitable claims of set aside and cancellation of instructions, holding that the fund control agent was the agent of the lender and that fund control and the lender both engaged in fraud and acted with malicious intent by sending the foreclosure notices to a known bad address.
The Early Sullivan team will now try the fraud claims before a jury, bound by the Court’s findings on agency and that the defendants engaged in fraud and acted with malice, leaving the amount of compensatory and punitive damages as the only issues for the jury to decide. The Early Sullivan team was led by Scott Gizer.
Early Sullivan Prevails in Jury Trial Regarding Restaurant Sale
Category: Results | Thursday, October 28th, 2021 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Prevails in Jury Trial Regarding Restaurant Sale
Scott Gizer obtained a unanimous verdict in favor of Early Sullivan client Dion Rottman following a two-week jury trial in Los Angeles. The lawsuit arose out of the sale of a West Hollywood restaurant by defendant Michael Kesler to Mr. Rottman. It was alleged that Mr. Kesler failed to disclose a restriction that affected the ability to operate a restaurant at the location at issue, resulting in a loss of value for the restaurant. Mr. Kesler denied knowing about the restriction, but Scott was able to convince the jury otherwise, and as a result, Mr. Rottman was awarded full damages for the lost value.
Bryan Sullivan Reps AJ Mendez in ViacomCBS/Women of Wrestling Distribution Deal
Category: News, Results | Thursday, October 14th, 2021 | Comments Off on Bryan Sullivan Reps AJ Mendez in ViacomCBS/Women of Wrestling Distribution Deal
ViacomCBS has signed an exclusive multi-year distribution deal with WOW – Women of Wrestling that will provide the women’s wrestling league with distribution opportunities across the U.S. and abroad. ViacomCBS plans to air past seasons of WOW on its CW Seed and Pluto TV platforms beginning in December of 2021, with new episodes launching in weekend syndication later in 2022.
As part of the deal, former WWE Champion AJ Mendez, represented by Bryan Sullivan, will provide commentary during each broadcast. She will also serve as an executive producer. Mendez is the author of Crazy Is My Superpower and is best known for her time in WWE under the ring name AJ Lee.
Read more about the deal in The Hollywood Reporter.
Early Sullivan Secures Major Victory for Shannen Doherty in Woolsey Fire Case
Category: News, Results | Tuesday, October 5th, 2021 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Secures Major Victory for Shannen Doherty in Woolsey Fire Case
Early Sullivan scored a major victory for client Shannen Doherty in a lawsuit filed against State Farm insurance company, which refused to pay for repairs, following the 2018 Woolsey fire, under a policy on Ms. Doherty’s Malibu home. After an intense legal battle during which Doherty revealed that she had stage 4 terminal cancer, a federal jury in Los Angeles awarded Doherty $6.3 million to cover damages to her home and personal property, emotional distress, and attorneys’ fees. Lead trial counsel Devin McRae and partners Peter Scott and Lisa Boswell tried the case, with support from associate Cory Ray.
After the trial, Devin commented: “We thank the members of the jury for their thoughtful consideration of Shannen’s case.” He continued, “We are happy they saw the case the way we do. This should send a message to State Farm and other institutions that they should not forget they are dealing with human beings.”
Hundreds of outlets covered the victory including The Associated Press, TMZ, and RadarOnline.