Jury trial win for law clients sued for breach of contract and aiding and abetting in fight between prior lawyers over share of attorney fees

Our clients were the innocent former clients of two law firms that settled a case for them and then fought each other over the attorney fees from the settlement. We were hired after the case had been litigated for seven years, during which time the prior lawyers, including disgraced and disbarred lawyer Michael Avenatti and his law firm (who were also parties to the litigation) had repeatedly lied to the clients about the whereabouts of the disputed attorney fees and the defenses asserted for the clients. The law firm suing our clients was seeking more than $30 million in damages, attempting to shift blame to them after the Eagan Avenatti firm declared bankruptcy and Michael Avenatti went to prison.

For four years, we worked to undo and correct the mistakes and misconduct of prior counsel, who had victimized our clients. We also challenged the credibility of the other lawyer suing our clients, whose claims against them were unconscionable and predatory. We effectively redirected the blame to Avenatti, who had absconded with the disputed fees and whose greed ultimately resulted in three criminal indictments and lengthy prison sentences.

In 2022, we won a complete defense verdict from an Orange County jury after a six-week trial. The case was highly-publicized and the result vindicated our clients who were facing significant liability due to the illegal and unethical misconduct of their former lawyers.