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Month: March, 2023
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.
Early Sullivan Successfully Has Summary Judgment Order Reversed on Appeal on behalf of Bankruptcy Trustee
Category: Press | Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Successfully Has Summary Judgment Order Reversed on Appeal on behalf of Bankruptcy Trustee
An Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae appellate team, comprised of Scott Gizer and Brett Moore, successfully had a bankruptcy court order granting summary judgment against bankruptcy trustee, Amy Goldman, reversed on appeal by the U.S. District Court.
Ms. Goldman brought an adversary complaint against third-party Shawn Dardashti for fraudulent transfer and a resulting trust asserting that the Debtors had transferred their home to Mr. Dardashti to shield it from creditors, but that the Debtors retained the beneficial interest in the property and were the true owners. The bankruptcy court judge granted summary judgment in favor of Mr. Dardashti finding that the bankruptcy trustee could not assert a fraudulent transfer claim because the property had no equity at the time of the fraudulent transfer and that the resulting trust remedy could not be asserted because it was a cause of action that could not be asserted by a bankruptcy trustee.
On appeal, the U.S. District Court agreed with Early Sullivan and Ms. Goldman that a resulting trust is a remedy for a common law fraudulent transfer claim, not a cause of action, and whether the property had equity at the time of transfer is irrelevant when the remedy sought is a resulting trust.
Tentative Ruling – March 23, 2022
Final Ruling – February 2, 2023
Early Sullivan Prevails on behalf of Clients on Fraudulent Transfer Claim
Category: Press | Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Prevails on behalf of Clients on Fraudulent Transfer Claim
An Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae trial team, comprised of Scott Gizer, Ryan Hemar, Jackie Hosey and Valerie Segura prevailed in bench trial on behalf of its clients JP Mobasher and Daphne Huey, who were being sued by Mobasher’s sister-in-law, Sharareh Neyary, as part of a divorce proceeding. Neyary claimed Mobasher conspired with his brother to put title to Neyary and her husband’s home in Mobasher and Huey’s name to shield the asset in the event of a divorce. Mobasher and Huey put on evidence at trial to establish that title was taken in Mobasher’s name because Neyary and her husband did not have the funds to purchase the property themselves, but that Mobasher had agreed to transfer title to them upon reimbursement of the funds he invested, which never occurred. After the presentation of the evidence, the Court found Neyary’s claims to lack credibility and entered judgment in favor of Mobasher and Huey.
Early Sullivan Prevails in Phase 1 Bench Trial on Contract Interpretation Issues
Category: Press | Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Prevails in Phase 1 Bench Trial on Contract Interpretation Issues
An Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae trial team, comprised of Scott Gizer, Chris Ritter, and Grace Lau prevailed in a phase 1 bench trial on behalf of its client Alex Tishelman, where Tishelman was being sued by his former business partner and accountant for breaches of an option agreement regarding real property in West Hollywood owned by Tishelman. At the core of the dispute was the interpretation of the Optionee’s required obligations to exercise his option rights and his right to cause a sale of the property. After hearing the evidence and arguments of counsel, the Court adopted Early Sullivan’s interpretation of the option agreement on all issues. As a result, all claims asserted against Tishelman in plaintiff’s complaint will necessarily fail and must be dismissed.