William Horrigan and Barbara Horrigan v. Kindel & Anderson; Carol A. Pfaffmann and Gary W. Maeder
Published: Dec. 13, 1997 | Result Date: Nov. 21, 1997 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC104414 – $1,625,000
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Leonard S. Steiner
(Steiner & Libo)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Greg Robson
(technical)
Michael L. Wolfe
(technical)
Defendant
Bernard Schearer
(technical)
David Harrison
(technical)
William J. Michiels
(technical)
Facts
Plaintiffs William and Barbara Horrigan,72 and 58 years of age, respectively, owned 85 percent of an insurance agency. In the summer of 1991, they retained defendants Kindel & Anderson, Gary Maeder and Carol A. Pfaffmann, to represent them in the sale of their insurance agency. The closing occurred on Nov. 11, 1991. The sale price was a sliding scale of between $2 million and $4 million, depending on the profitability of the agency after the acquisition. The buyer defaulted and defendants received nothing for their agency. The plaintiff brought this action against defendants based on two causes of action, one for legal malpractice and one to recover overcharges of legal fees.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiffs made a C.C.P. º998 settlement demand for $1.5 million. The defendants made no offers.
Damages
The plaintiffs claimed $2 million in damages for the loss of the value of their insurance agency. Defendants' valuation expert, William Michiels, testified that plaintiffs' agency was worth nothing as of the closing. The plaintiffs claimed the overcharge was $45,000.
Result
On the legal malpractice cause of action, the jury awarded plaintiffs $2 million but found plaintiffs to be 20 percent comparatively negligent, for a net award of $1.6 million. On the cause of action to recover overcharges of fees, the jury awarded plaintiffs $25,000.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately three years and six months after the case was filed. Defendants will be filing a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
Deliberation
three days
Poll
varied between 10-2 and 12-0
Length
13 days
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