Alvin Ostrow v. Jerome Smith, et al.
Published: Aug. 10, 1996 | Result Date: Mar. 12, 1996 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: N63104 – $0
Judge
Court
San Diego Superior Vista
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Joel M. Pressman
(Judicate West)
Experts
Plaintiff
E. Winston Elton
(technical)
James H. West
(technical)
John M. Riccione
(Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP)
(technical)
Defendant
Alan N. Nevin
(technical)
Alan Rockler
(technical)
Richard B. Reital
(technical)
Facts
In 1986 and 1987, the plaintiff, Alvin Ostrow, was a client of defendant Dean-Witter-Reynolds, a brokerage firm. During this time the plaintiff invested nearly $260,000 in two hotels in San Diego County. The plaintiff's stockbroker at Dean-Witter, another defendant in this case, also invested in these hotel deals. Per the defendants, the hotel deals were in no way related to, associated with, or sponsored by defendant Dean-Witter. The defendant stockbroker claimed he fully informed the plaintiff, prior to the plaintiff entering into these deals, that they were not Dean Witter investments. In Nov. 1986, the plaintiff and the defendant stockbroker made a loan to defendant Jerome Smith to assist Smith in opening his law practice. This loan was not a Dean-Witter sponsored investment, and the defendant stockbroker claimed he so informed the plaintiff prior to the plaintiff making his half of the loan. The plaintiff and his stockbroker subsequently lost all of their money in the hotel deals. Defendant Smith defaulted on the law practice loan and filed bankruptcy to discharge that debt. The plaintiff, Alvin Ostrow, brought this action against the defendants, the stockbroker, the law practice debtor (Jerome Smith) and Dean-Witter, based on fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty and constructive fraud theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff made a settlement demand for $175,000. The defendant made a C.C.P. º998 offer of compromise for $2,500.
Damages
The plaintiff claimed he lost $280,000 in principal and claimed over $200,000 for loss of use of the principal for 10 years.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately 2 years after the case was filed. A voluntary settlement conference was held in Feb. 1996, before JudgeThomas Murphy of the Vista Superior Court. It did not resolve the matter.
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