Judicial Review Of The Fairness Of A Derivative Lawsuit Settlement Is Much Like Review Of The Settlement Of A Class Action. Norman v. Strateman, A170356 (1/3 6/20/25) (Petrou, Fujisaki, Rodriguez), involved a cryptocurrency exchange dispute requiring judicial approval of derivative settlements. Donald Norman, Patrick Strateman, and Amir Taaki established Intersango, a cryptocurrency exchange that […]
Labor Code Sections Prohibiting Cost-Shifting To Employees Prevailed Over Section 998 Cost-Shifting. The next case does not involve ADR. We blog about it because it does involve settlement offers and cost-shifting. Employees sued California Collision LLC (CCL) and its owner for labor law violations. The case involved several settlement offers under California Code […]
But If One Of Two Simultaneous Offers Is Invalid, Section 998 Can Be Applied To The Remaining Section 998 Offer. Our next case, which does not involve mediation or arbitration, involves settlement. But since section 998 settlement offers can be made in both arbitration and litigation, our next case is worth considering. Gorobets v. […]
The Lesson Here Is The Importance of Carefully Drafting Collaborative Law Agreements. How's this for a setup: "Ling and Paul Mueller married in 2009 and separated in 2017. During their marriage, they cultivated cannabis and buried the proceeds on their property." What could possibly go wrong? Plenty. The Muellers engaged in a collaborative […]
Liquidated Damages Of $250K Were Reasonable In Proportion To $2.2M Settlement. After an all-day tele-mediation the parties executed a term sheet providing that defendant/cross-complainant would pay $1.6M to plaintiff, and cross-defendant would pay $600K. Defendant/cross-complainant had second thoughts the next day and reneged on payment. Cross-defendant paid $600K. And plaintiff successfully enforced the settlement […]
My Perspective. I've written an article about mediator settlement proposals and it is published in the July 2023 issue of Advocate. For my readers interested in the topic, here is a link to the article: Download Alexander-July23-article
TL:DR — The Headline Is What You Need To Know. "Does a 998 offer automatically expire when a trial court orally grants the offeror’s summary judgment motion? We hold that that answer is 'yes.' Because the trial court came to the same conclusion, we affirm." Ana Isabel Trujillo v. City of Los Angeles, B314042 […]
An Offeree's Acceptance Of A Section 998 Offer Must Be "Absolute And Unqualified" To Form A Binding Settlement. "Absolute and unqualified" did not describe the offeree Says Siri's acceptance of Sutter Home Winery's offer in Says Siri v. Sutter Home Winery [Trinchero Family Estates], A161923 (1/4 8/25/22) (Pollak, Streeter, Goldman). Instead, Siri accepted Trinchero's […]
“'Duress by a third person' is the legal label for this contract case." Plaintiff Laura Fettig entered into a settlement agreement, on the record, of her personal injury case. Later, she tried to set aside the settlement agreement, arguing she had only settled under duress caused by her attorney who threatened to abandon her […]
A Case Of First Impression. Section 998 offers belong to the armamentarium of litigators engaged in settling cases, because the potential of such offers to shift costs can be a source of negotiating leverage. Hence, our blog about ADR has a sidebar category "Section 998 (Settlements)". In Varney Entertainment Group, Inc. v. Avon […]