Los Angeles, CA — December 2012
Lee Tran & Liang (“LTL”) wins another appeal before the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District.
As previously reported, in March, 2011, LTL obtained a unanimous jury verdict of over $1.6 million on behalf of its client after a hard fought 6-day trial in the Orange County Superior Court. The award included punitive damages, after the jury found on clear and convincing evidence that that Defendants acted with fraud, malice or oppression. One of the Defendants is a well-known figure in the Vietnamese-American community and ran for Mayor of Westminster in the November 2010 elections.
Defendants appealed on the basis that 1) the trial court erred in excluding certain testimony from the defendants’ prior attorney, which they claimed prejudiced defendants, 2) the evidence was insufficient to justify the jury’s findings, 3) certain financial evidence should have been excluded, and 4) the plaintiff’s amendment of his complaint on the third day of trial was improper. Oral argument was held on November 15th, 2012. LTL Partner Ray Mandlekar represented Plaintiff and Respondent.
On November 26th, 2012, the California Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed the trial court’s findings on all counts, and also ruled that Plaintiff is entitled to his costs on appeal.
“We are very pleased with the outcome of the appeal,” said partner Ray Mandlekar, “and we are particularly proud of the fact that we prevailed on behalf of someone who was clearly taken advantage of by more sophisticated parties with greater resources.”