Professional Liability

FMG attorneys Lisa Gentile and Julia Ray obtained a defense verdict in a wrongful death trial on behalf of an assisted living facility. Plaintiff made a pre-suit settlement demand of $1.5 million and asked the jury for $10 million at trial.

Plaintiff’s wrongful death claim was based on a fall suffered by the decedent at the facility. The jury found no negligence or proximate cause, leading to a unanimous defense verdict.

Cheryl L. Wright, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of June E. Wentz, Deceased v. Randall Residence of Newark, LLC, et al.; Licking County Court of Common Pleas; Case 23CV0316

FMG attorneys Christian Gunneson, Jennifer Markowski and Joseph McGuire secured a complete dismissal in an arbitration on behalf of a third-party administrator of a self-funded ERISA plan. The claimant was the ERISA plan sponsor who alleged that FMG’s client mishandled employee health claims over a two-year period. The claimant initially sought damages in excess of $6 million. After securing two favorable motions to dismiss to limit the claims, the FMG team was able to successfully outline the poor evidentiary support of the claims. After FMG sought to file a motion for summary judgment, the claimant voluntarily dismissed all claims against FMG’s client.

KCI Holding USA, Inc. v BeniComp Inc. d/b/a BeniComp Health Solutions, In the Matter Before the American Arbitration Association, Case No.: 01-24-0008-6905.

FMG attorneys Scott Anderson, Jacob Madsen and Cameron Regnery recently obtained a victory in the Court of Appeals of Georgia, receiving a judgment affirming dismissal of all claims against a Georgia insurance broker. The plaintiff, a commercial trucking company, alleged that the insurance broker caused its denial of insurance coverage. Asserting claims for breach of fiduciary duty and negligence, the plaintiff sought over $200,000 in damages. The trial court dismissed the case, holding that the insurance broker did not cause the denial of coverage. The Court of Appeals agreed and affirmed the dismissal of all claims.

Atarod Trucking Company, LLC v. Renegade Insurance LLC, Court of Appeals of Georgia, Case No. A25A1457

FMG attorneys William Munoz and David Chang obtained a defense verdict for their clients, a real estate salesperson and real estate broker, in a jury trial in Los Angeles. The plaintiffs were the mother, father and two sons. The parents were trustees of the family trust that owned a multi-family complex that our clients listed and sold for them. The sons were subsequently appointed trustees of the trust and claimed that our clients sold the property for less than the fair market value and, in doing so, committed elder abuse against their parents. The plaintiffs asked the jury to award $2.7 million in damages, but the jury found in our clients’ favor by a unanimous vote on all counts.

Min-Hsuing Chien v. Guan, et al, Los Angeles County Superior Court

Jennifer Brockel and Kate Johnson prevailed in an arbitration proceeding in Denver, Colorado, concerning an unpaid balance for expert witness work. The matter arose when the opposing party failed to pay amounts owed for services totaling over $88,000. After conducting a hearing, the arbitrator determined that FMG’s client was entitled to full recovery, finding in favor of the client under both a breach of contract theory and an equitable quantum meruit claim. 

Harper Hofer v. Bill Rios, Private Arbitration 

After a three-week trial in San Diego County, FMG attorneys Christopher Weber and Lili Mikaelian obtained a defense verdict in a case involving an allegedly fraudulent real estate scheme. FMG’s clients, the escrow company and the escrow officer involved in the transaction, were accused of breaching their fiduciary duties to Plaintiffs and allegedly aiding and abetting a conspiracy with several other defendants to defraud Plaintiffs. After significantly limiting Plaintiffs’ recoverable damages through pre-trial and trial motions, the jury ultimately found in our clients‘ favor on the Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Conspiracy claims. 

Scott v. Jennings, et al., Superior Court for the State of California for the County of San Diego/North Division, Case No. 37-2020-00009480-CU-NP-NC 

Meaghan Mahon and Patrick Cosgrove prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in the Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas on a legal malpractice claim concerning an underlying divorce settlement. The matter pertained to our client’s alleged failure to account for certain marital debts as part of the equitable distribution agreements. Following oral argument on FMG’s motion, the Court granted summary judgment dismissing our client from the matter with prejudice. 

Figured v. Yates, Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas, No. 19-0210 

Robert Klein and Chris Fraga prevailed in having Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal reverse a prior order incorrectly denying a motion to dismiss for improper venue based on their attorney client’s engagement agreement. Based on arguments by Klein and Fraga, the Third District concluded that reading the engagement agreement as the trial court had would render virtually every provision of the engagement agreement meaningless and would lead to the conclusion that the parties meant for their Florida litigation to be governed by no contract at all.

Pierce Law Group, LLP v. Jaleh Factor et al.; Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal; Case No. 3D24-1444

Robert Klein and Chris Fraga represented a Florida attorney in responding to a complaint to the Florida Bar’s Attorney/Consumer Assistance Program, which included allegations that the client had improperly threatened a pro se Plaintiff in order to obtain an advantage in a civil matter. The Tenth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee fully vindicated FMG’s client, concluding that there was no probable cause to proceed with further disciplinary actions.