Kinsella v. JAMS Inc.

Fraud and False Advertisement

San Diego County

Superior Court Judge John S. Meyer

Defense Lawyers: Joseph P. McMonigle, Jessica R. MacGregor, Andrew Massara, Long & Levit LLP

Plaintiff’s Lawyers: Bryan C. Vess, Bryan C. Vess APC; Jerry D. Hemme, Goode Hemme & Barger

When JAMS neutral Sheila P. Sonenshine was accused by a former client of false advertising over experience listed on her resume, it kicked off nearly two years of contentious litigation that culminated in a three-week trial in May 2015. After a trial that featured vulgarity, along with accusations of family scams and gender bias against men, the jury gave the defense a full victory.

Venture capitalist Kevin Kinsella said that Sonenshine exaggerated business experience on her resume that led him to select her to handle his divorce. The defense, led by Joseph P. McMonigle and Jessica R. MacGregor, argued that he was not harmed and that the resume was all true.

San Diego County Superior Court Judge John S. Meyer said repeatedly at trial that he would not allow the divorce to be relitigated at trial. However, the use of documents and declarations from the proceeding presented McMonigle and MacGregor with a thin line to walk.

“I think that we were mindful of the line that the judge was trying to draw to not relitigate the underlying pending dissolution action. So, we readjusted throughout the trial to the directions the judge gave,” McMonigle said. “It was going to be important to use the deposition testimony and the declarations filed in the dissolution actions.”

Both defense attorneys said that Kinsella himself, who often offered unprompted information during testimony, presented another challenge.

“It was a case where we had to be very vigilant about using objections to evidence,” MacGregor said.

Throughout the trial, attempts to broach a key topic by Kinsella’s attorney, Bryan C. Vess, were cut off by hearsay objections.

The jury found 11-1 that Kinsella was not harmed, and deadlocked 8-4 on the accusation of misrepresentation, but Meyer decided the lack of harm was enough to dismiss the suit. Kinsella v. JAMS Inc., 27-2015-00026133 (San Diego Super. Ct., filed Aug. 5, 2015).

Following the verdict, Kinsella attempted to have Meyer disqualified. The judge struck the motion, a ruling Kinsella appealed unsuccessfully to the state Supreme Court.

“At the end of the day, the case was all about Kinsella’s supposed reliance on information related to Justice Sonenshine’s business activities, and the jury clearly found that that didn’t cause any, so we were quite satisfied,” McMonigle said.

— Andy Serbe