Judge questions purpose of witnesses’ day-long testimony

LOS ANGELES -- A superior court judge questioned the purpose of an entire day's testimony Thursday in a case seeking to establish whether the actions of Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP constituted malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract in the firm's representation of a former British solicitor suing a newspaper for invasion of privacy.

Plaintiff's attorney Becky S. James of James & Associates and defense attorney John M. Moscarino of Valle Makoff LLP each questioned British barrister Peter Herbert, who consulted with Dominique Shelton, the principal Edwards Wildman attorney who had handled the now-suing client.

Herbert sketched out what he saw as the shortcomings of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the governing body of the British legal profession.

Herbert said barristers of color, such as client-plaintiff Shahrokh Mireskandari, were far more likely to be investigated by the authority, and that firms with a higher percentage of minorities had a much greater chance of being shut down during the course of one of the agency's investigations.

Mireskandari sued the Daily Mail because, he alleged, it hacked his student records and said he did not have the legal credentials he claimed. The report led to his disbarment.

During the testimony, Judge Terry A. Green asked the jury to leave the court while he addressed an objection from Moscarino.

A tense exchange followed, with Moscarino questioning the point of hours of testimony surrounding the intricacies of British law. He pointed at Herbert and angrily said the plaintiff's attorneys were attempting to get him to say that during a conversation he had with Shelton, that they should pursue a motion for summary judgment against the Daily Mail, which would have been difficult and unlikely to succeed. Herbert eventually conceded he encouraged Shelton, who is also named as a defendant, to pursue this action.

Green also seemed confused as to the point of Herman's testimony.

"Where is this going?" Green asked on more than one occasion, identifying that the issue of how out of bounds the British legal authority actually was seemed to be a large portion of the plaintiff's case. He noted further, "The SRA isn't on trial here; it's being convicted. Everything this gentleman is saying may be true, but I have no way of knowing that."

Moscarino said, "That's why we have a case within a case precedent in this country. This should have been settled long ago."

Mireskandari sued Edwards Wildman Palmer in 2013, claiming the firm overcharged him and misrepresented its expertise in his suit against the newspaper. Shahrokh Mireskandari v. Edwards Wildman Palmer et al.,, BC517799 (filed Aug 9, 2013, L.A. Sup. Ct.).

Before testimony began Thursday, Katherine P. Balatbat of Valle Makoff LLP asked that Green instruct the jury that Bliss mispronounced the name of one of Shelton's clients during a role-play reading Wednesday of a 2013 deposition taken from Shelton.

"Miss Bliss is assuming the persona of Miss Shelton. We don't want the jury thinking Miss Shelton doesn't know her client's name," Balatbat said, adding, "We're worried that it's culturally insensitive."

Green said he also noticed the error.

Bliss exclaimed that Green should have banged the gavel and made this known, to which he responded, "I'm a minimalist. I don't do that."

The mock read-in continued Thursday. Bliss, playing Shelton, testified that the multiple staff changes on Mireskandari's lawsuit against the Daily Mail were the result of him "trying to extract as much work as possible without paying," but did not constitute fraud of any kind on behalf of the firm.

Further, emailed correspondence between Shelton and Mireskandari sketched out a seemingly mutually dissatisfied relationship in which his emailed questions were not answered satisfactorily and the firm continually put a revolving cast of staff on his case.

"It appears to me this is just Mrs. Shelton's version of the evidence. She's here in court. Why don't you just call her as a witness?" Green said.

The plaintiffs said they did not intend to call Shelton.

She will likely take the stand for the defense on Friday.