News and Events
Mark L. Share moderates 2010 Breakfast with the Judges - Prejudgment Remedies
Judges and Commissioners in the prejudgment remedies departments of the Los Angeles County Superior Court explain what they expect of practitioners regarding injunctions, writs of attachment and possession, and receiverships. Speakers include Judges Yaffe, Chalfant, Meiers, Commissioner Mitchell. Moderated by Mark L. Share.
De Castro, West Senior Counsel Headlines Real Estate Seminar
Michael Abrams Addresses Local Bar on Options to Foreclosure
The San Fernando Valley Bar Association Conference Center was recently the site of De Castro, West’s latest educational presentation. The seminar featured Michael S. Abrams, Senior Counsel with the Firm, explaining options in the face of possible foreclosure.
Mr. Abrams' presentation was to an overflow crowd, including both substantial pre-sales and extensive on-site registration. Attendees included attorneys and business persons from the Greater Los Angeles area.
"Many practitioners are faced with clients in danger of foreclosure," Mr. Abrams said. "But there are a number of options available that some practitioners are not aware of."
Mr. Abrams reviewed recent changes to California law, in both the Civil Code and Code of Civil Procedure, and the effects of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, widely known as the "Bail-Out." Then he turned to a number of safe and well-established options for commercial and residential owners concerned about continued payments on their obligations.
"There are at least a half-dozen alternatives that counsel and clients should consider when a party is concerned about making mortgage payments," Mr. Abrams, who graduated magna cum laude in 1981 from Northwestern University Law School, said. "Many attorneys are not familiar with the variety of options for owners in these situations."
Mr. Abrams' presentation included analyses of reinstatement, forbearance, and repayment plans. And mortgage modification is another possibility, he said, along with sale, pre-foreclosure sale, short sale, and offering the lender a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
"In some situations, property owners can get a qualified buyer to assume the obligation," he said. "Counsel and clients should not overlook this very viable option."
The speech included an exploration of the use of receivers when property is in danger of foreclosure, and bankruptcy alternatives for owners. This touched on the property owner's options under Chapters &, 11, and 13 of the bankruptcy law.
Mr. Abrams earned a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Chicago in 1977. He earned his Juris Doctorate four years later in 1981 from Northwestern Law School, where he was a member of the editorial board for the school’s law review. At Northwestern, he earned academic distinction and was awarded the Order of the Coif. Mr. Abrams focuses his practice primarily on real estate and corporate transactions, bankruptcy and complex business litigation.
De Castro, West Partner Speaks at State Bar Annual Meeting
Mark Share Anchors Lead-Off Program on Federal Court Practice
While many California attorneys are familiar with State court practice and procedure, only a few have developed expertise in the challenging requirements of Federal practice as well. To help educate attorneys throughout the state, the State Bar of California presented De Castro, West partner Mark L. Share at the 2008 Annual Meeting’s kick-off program, "Federal Court Practice: A Primer for State Court Practitioners."
The Annual Meeting, which started on a Thursday and ran through the following Sunday in Monterey, California, offered educational seminars for counsel from law firms of all sizes and specialties. Mr. Share presented to a capacity crowd.
"The materials I assembled for attendees can be used as a guide for state court practitioners when they find themselves pulled into Federal Court litigation," Mr. Share, who graduated cum laude in 1990 from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College, says. "Counsel face a number of significant differences between the two systems and need to be aware of the requirements on them."
The presentation included analysis of Federal Court Rules, which have recently been modified, and the regulations governing matters removed to Federal Court. Mr. Share discussed removal issues and filing requirements as well.
"Clients with matters in Federal Court face significant challenges on a substantive level in most cases," he said. "Counsel on these matters need to be ahead of the curve to truly serve their needs."
Mr. Share's practice emphasizes litigation and business issues. His complex litigation practice includes representing clients in state and federal courts and arbitrations in business and other disputes. He counsels commercial and residential property owners, business entities, and executives. He is admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, the United States District Courts for all districts of California, and the State of California.
Expert Opinions
De Castro, West Partner Mark Share Moderates Bench Officer Roundtable on Injunctions, Receiverships, Attachments: Breakfast with the Experts 2008
Mark Share, a partner in the litigation and real estate practice groups with De Castro, West, Chodorow, Mendler, Glickfeld & Nass, recently led the charge for the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Remedies Section as moderator of a one-hour roundtable discussion. Mr. Share secured the participation of all four of the bench officers who handle provisional remedies matters in the Central District.
Despite the early hour, the meeting was a sell-out, with standing–room only crowds and lively discussion. Judge Yaffe generously provided his large Courtroom as the venue for the event.
"This program offered everything a practitioner could ever want to know about how to be successful in this practice area," Mr. Share says. "This information is like gold."
The panel included Judge David P. Yaffe, Judge James C. Chalfant, Commissioner Bruce E. Mitchell, and Commissioner Victor H. Greenberg. Judge Yaffe and Commissioners Mitchell and Greenberg offered considerable experience to the audience, as they have been overseeing these matters for some years. Judge Chalfant, who is somewhat new to the calendar, offered insights into his expectations and demands of the practitioners coming before him in the future. Judge Chalfant is taking over for a veteran jurist who has recently retired.
"The audience questions showed a decidedly practical bent," Mr. Share, a Past Chair of the Remedies Section of the Bar, says. "These practitioners understand how complex and significant this practice is."
Mark L. Share is an AV-rated (highest available rating) litigator and real estate attorney. He guides clients through sophisticated business transactions and counsels commercial and residential property owners, business entities, and executives. He can be reached at mshare@dwclaw.com.
Bringing the Past into the Present
De Castro, West Senior Trial Lawyer Judianne Jaffe Wins Lengthy Probate Fight
After months of protracted legal wrangling coming from her opponents, De Castro, West partner Judianne Jaffe won a complete victory in probate court. The case involved an intestate (no will) estate of some considerable value.
The deceased, Cindy Cameron, was 85 years old when she passed away in 2006. She had been an actress and real estate investor.
"We prevailed on summary judgment in the estate matter, where Cameron's cousin sought to be the executor and an intestate heir based on being Cameron's ‘equitably adopted' sister," Ms. Jaffe says. "We established that equitable adoption was not recognized in the state of Kansas where the so-called adoption in 1935 would have taken place."
De Castro, West represented Miss Cameron's niece and two grand-nieces against Miss Cameron's first cousin. The cousin claimed she was Miss Cameron's rightful heir. She demanded priority of appointment as executor, asserting she was Miss Cameron's "equitably adopted" sister. The cousin based this claim on the fact that Miss Cameron's widowed father married the cousin's mother (his brother's widow) in 1935. She claimed Miss Cameron's father was too poor during the Depression to legally adopt her.
"Even under California law, which recognizes equitable adoption, there must be a legal barrier that prevents formal adoption, for an equitable adoption claim to prevail," Ms. Jaffe, who focuses her practice on complex business litigation, says. "The court ruled as a matter of law that lack of money to pay for a legal adoption is not a ‘legal barrier' under the California statute."
The cousin also claimed she was the trustee and beneficiary of a "land trust" into which Miss Cameron had placed her commercial property in 1998. However, Ms. Jaffe established that the cousin had signed a Quitclaim Deed, intending to return the property to Miss Cameron, at Miss Cameron's request, in 2003.
Superior Court Judge John L. Segal ruled on the summary judgment motion regarding the alleged equitable adoption, and presided over the bench trial on the land trust issue.
"We prevailed at trial on the ‘trust' issue," Ms. Jaffe, who tried the matter with the assistance of associates Yona Conzevoy and Sharon Nolfi, says. "The cousin claimed that she owned the real property in trust for herself as successor beneficiary, despite having signed and delivered a quitclaim deed to Miss Cameron three years before Miss Cameron's death."
The court ruled after a four-day bench trial that the quitclaim deed was intended to return all right, title and interest in the real property to Miss Cameron in her own name. The Court decided that, as a result, the real property was part of the intestate estate. In this circumstance, the land was appropriately inherited by Ms. Jaffe's clients, Miss Cameron's niece and grand-nieces.
Judianne Jaffe focuses her practice on complex business litigation and trials in the California courts, U.S. District Courts and U.S. Tax Court. She represents clients in regulatory disputes, arbitrations and judicial references. Ms. Jaffe represents North American and Pacific Rim companies from a wide variety of industries. She earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Southern California Law School, Order of the Coif. In addition to the State Bar of California, Ms. Jaffe is admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court and
the U.S. District Court for all California districts. She can be reached at (310) 478-2541 or via e-mail at jjaffe@dwclaw.com.
Partners Jerry L. Kay and Mark L. Share Reverse Real Estate Deal Disaster
Attorneys Representing Buyer Alana Stewart Recover More Than $375,000In a binding arbitration proceeding with numerous experts before a retired Superior Court Judge, De Castro, West, Chodorow, Mendler, Glickfeld & Nass, Inc. won a significant victory for real estate investor Alana Stewart on her claims against the seller of a residential property. The damages amount includes substantial relocation funds for Ms. Stewart.
Trial attorneys Jerry L. Kay and Mark L. Share defeated the opposing party's petition to vacate the award, which they lodged as part of the award confirmation proceedings. The Firm won attorneys' fees at the arbitration.
"All that our client wanted to do was buy the residential property in a habitable condition," trial counsel and long-time De Castro partner Jerry L. Kay says. "And the law protects buyers from sellers who try to conceal important issues regarding real estate."
During escrow, Ms. Stewart became concerned about mold and drainage issues. So she had the seller sign a statement as part of the escrow process that assured her that the conditions that created the mold would be remedied.
"We argued successfully during the arbitration that once the seller signed off on that aspect of the escrow process, it became part of the sales agreement on the property," parner Mark L. Share says. "But the seller knew when he signed the agreement that the conditions had not been remedied."
De Castro counsel convinced the arbitrator that by including that language in the escrow documents, Ms. Stewart put the seller on notice that she would not close escrow unless the seller remedied the conditions. However, when Ms. Stewart took possession of her home, she discovered that the causes of water intrusion had not been corrected and mold was returning.
"When the client investigated, she discovered that a number of defects had not been repaired, including a crack in the foundation and black mold. Ms. Stewart became extremely concerned at that point, and understandably so - our client reasonably relied on the seller's word that the repairs had been accomplished, when in reality, they hadn't," Mr. Kay says. "We convinced the arbitrator this was a breach of the parties' contract."
The award has now been paid in full.
"I'm pleased with this result," Mr. Share, who works extensively in the real estate area, says. "Ms. Stewart's rights have finally been satisfactorily vindicated under the law."
De Castro, West, Chodorow, Mendler, Glickfeld & Nass provides planning and advocacy to clients in complex business transactions and litigation. The firm helps individuals, private entities and public corporations navigate the legal intricacies of both the boardroom and the courtroom through strategic counseling, innovative planning and aggressive representation. De Castro, West is a full-service law firm, handling almost every type of legal matter for nearly every kind of enterprise. For more information about De Castro, West, Chodorow, Glickfeld and Nass, call (310) 478-2541 or e-mail tray@dwclaw.com.